Megaman Battle Network: The Online Wars
by EmperorDraco7
Summary: AU of Megaman Battle Network. Two individals living in a peaceful world soon become involved in a battle that will shape the destinies of two worlds and decide the future of humanity. Warning will contain some language.
1. Jack-In Megaman

Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman Battle Network, NT Warrior or any of the characters from the games and/or anime. I really enjoyed the Megaman NT Warrior anime when it aired in Canada though I never knew about the Battle Network games that the show was based on until sometime later. Anyway I hope that this story would be good though my first Battle Network fic was made a long time ago but I deleted it because I didn't like how it went so here's a new fic set in the Battle Network universe.

P.S. I'm only going to be using the anime versions of the Battle Chips in my fic though with the exception of Area Steal, will retain their names from the game.

Megaman Battle Network: The Online Wars

By EmperorDraco7

"Lan! Lan!" came a voice from out of nowhere inside a bedroom where a boy with messy brown hair was fast asleep in his bed, mumbling something despite being told to wake up. "Lan, if you don't wake up you'll be late for school!" There was still no reply from the boy. "Hey Lan Hikari!" This led to the boy rolling himself off the bed and waking himself up.

"Huh?" wondered the boy, getting up and rubbing one of his eyes with a tired expression on his face. He was wearing light blue pajamas and he wondered why he was woken up when he was having a great dream. "Man, it's too early for shouting… plus I was having a great dream."

"It's about time you woke up." he heard the voice again and went over towards where it was coming from, stopping at his desk where his PErsonal Terminal, or PET for short, laid.

"Morning Megaman."

"Good Morning to you too Lan" said the Net-Navi named Megaman, relieved that his NetOp was finally awake. "Now hurry up and get dressed or you'll be late for school."

"What are you talking about…" Lan took a look at the clock and his eyes widened in disbelief upon realizing that Megaman was right. "Oh man, I better get dressed!" Sometime later, he was dressed in his black shorts, orange and white shirt and black shoes as he made his way down the stair. "Morning mom!"

"Good morning Lan, your breakfast is on the table in case you wanted to know" smiled Hakura Hikari before watching her son eat his breakfast. Once he was done eating, he made his way out the door. "Oh yeah, Mayl is waiting for you outside!"

"Huh?" As soon as he was outside, he took notice that a girl with red-hair was standing out the door and she was frowning.

"You're late!"

"Looks like Mayl's grumpy…." frowned Megaman.

Lan sighed while scratching the back of his head and said. "Nobody asked you to wait for me Mayl…." Even though he and Mayl Sakurai had been neighbors since they were younger, he does tend to get slightly annoyed whenever she scolded him.

"Did you say something Lan?" she asked with her armed crossed as she slowly approached him. "We better get going or we'll both be late for school."

He paused for a moment. "Why do we have to walk to school together all the time? I know we were friends since we were younger but still…." His response was Mayl laughing a bit.

"You dummy!" she replied. "We always have so much stuff to talk about."

"She means SHE has a lot to talk about" added Megaman. "So please try to pay attention and listen…."

"Be quiet!" snapped Lan before he and Mayl began walking to school, he recently lost count on the times they walked there together but then again he wasn't good at keeping track most of the time. It was at this moment they noticed several fire trucks passing by them. "Not again….

"You know about the oven incidents right?" whispered Mayl, frowning as they watched the fire trucks. "It's really strange for people's ovens to start spitting out fire all of a sudden… I wonder if it's another WWW Virus is on the loose."

Lan remained silent for a few seconds then said. "Maybe you're imagining things."

"Maybe…." She replied upon reaching the gates to the school grounds. "We're here; we better hurry and get to class!"

* * *

><p>Once at the class-room, Lan was about to get seated when he was approached by none other than another of his friends Dex Oyama. "About time you showed up Lan!" he said to the brown-haired male.<p>

"What is it Dex?"

"I challenge you to a Net-Battle!" said Dex, quite confident of his skills. "It will be my Gutsman against you Megaman!"

"You do know that Net-Battling in class isn't allowed!" came a female voice from behind and the two turned to see that it was Yai Ayanokoji, despite being the smallest in the class she's from a rich family.

"Stay out of this!" yelled Dex. "You know you got a big mouth despite being a little shrimp, besides Lan and I aren't bothering anyone."

"Well I guess… Wait a minute… Shrimp? You got some nerve talking like that to a lady!" snapped Yai, just then the sound of the bell was heard throughout the classroom.

Dex groaned at that. "Nuts, class is starting! Lan, once class is over you better be here and you better be ready to lose!"

Lan remained silent, nodding his head before the three got to their respective seats as their teacher Ms. Mari entered the room. "Hello class, shall we begin?" she asked with a smile on her face. "First Period will be about Virus Busting…. Now tell me, who read the Net-News recently?"

"I did!" answered one of the students. "It said that WWW crime is on the rise!"

"Excellent, that's extra marks for checking on your Net-News."

"Of course, you should know this information too Lan…." Lan heard Megaman's voice from in his PET.

Ms. Mari cleared her voice and said. "It's very important that we know how to fight against Viruses in the Cyberworld…. Of course, you need to be prepared on how to deal with them in combat."

"Hah!" said Dex, becoming quite confident when he spoke. "I'd like to see a virus from WWW go up against me and Gutsman!"

"Dex and his silly little "Gutsman"…" Yai let out a small sigh; needless to say he didn't like her response.

"What did you say?" he was about to say something else when Lan cut him off with his own reply.

"Relax; I doubt the WWW would bother with you anyway…."

Dex was scowling and sent Lan a glare. "Why you…" Suddenly Ms. Mari interrupted before he could finish what he was going to say to Lan.

"Quiet down!" she said with a serious expression on her face as she remembered where she left off earlier. "Today we're going to be using the common Metool virus so Jack in your PETs so your Net-Navi can access the net."

"You heard her Lan, Jack me in…."

"Alright Megaman" Lan replied to his Navi before Jacking in his PET, soon Megaman appeared in the Cyberworld, along with Mayl's Net-Navi Roll, Dex's Navi Gutsman and Yai's own Navi Glyde as well as the Normal-Navis belonging to the rest of the students in the class. Waiting for their arrival was a pink Normal-Navi.

"Looks like everyone's Navis are online" said Ms. Mari. "Now it's time to release the Metools, get ready everyone!"

"Okay, releasing Metools now!" said the Normal-Navi, sending out a couple of Metool viruses to see if the other Navis would be able to take them down without too much trouble.

* * *

><p>Haruka was finished washing the dishes when she heard knocking. "Coming!" she said, making her way towards the door and opening it which revealed a man with a red beard, red neck length hair and wearing a technician's outfit. "Can I help you?"<p>

"Hello there, I'm with NetSafety and I've come to make sure that your home panel is in working order" explained the man in a Scottish accent. "I trust you know about the oven incidents am I right?"

"Of course…. Come right in" replied Haruka, allowing the man into the house. What she didn't know was that the man was revealing a grin as he went towards the panel.

* * *

><p>Class was done for the day and while the rest of the students left for home, Lan and Dex remained behind so that the two of them can have their Net-Battle. "You were lucky to have been saved by the bell" said the bigger male. "However now is the time to fight so don't cry if you lose!"<p>

"Oh yeah! Bring it on!" said Lan, preparing for the Net-Battle. "Jack-In Megaman! Power Up!"

Dex followed suite. "Jack In Gutsman! Power Up!"

Once jacked in, both their respective Net-Navis appeared in the battlefield. Megaman stared at his opponent and knew that he would be a tough. "Hah! Give me a break Lan! Do you really think you can defeat my Gutsman with that little Navi of yours?" laughed Dex, not intimidated by Megaman's appearance.

"You know Dex…." said Lan with a serious expression on his face. "You can still quit if you want!"

"I'm afraid you're going to be the one to give up!" Dex replied back at his opponent and friend. "Gutsman, let's show Blue Boy whose boss!"

Lan held onto his PET's handle tight. "Go get him Megaman!"

Gutsman began pounding his chest. "Guts! Guts! Gutsman!" he then threw a punch straight at Megaman. "He's the best!"

"Bring it on!" yelled Megaman, easily dodging the punch before firing his Megabuster at him while watching as the shots were blocked by his huge fists.

Gutsman laughed a little before changing one of his fists into a mallet and slamming it into the ground. Fortunately Megaman managed to get out of the way on time. "Me number one Net-Navi!"

"You tell them Gutsman!" grinned Dex, slotting a BattleChip into his PET. "GutsPunch BattleChip in! Download!" Gutsman's fist grew slightly larger and threw a powerful punch at Megaman. "It's all over!" As soon as he said that, his eyes widened when he saw Megaman catching the fist. "What the?"

"Alright Megaman!" Lan shouted in awe. "Go get him!"

Megaman pushed away Gutsman's fist and began rapidly punching at him before eventually knocking him to the ground with a swift kick. "Get up Gutsman! Don't let that wimp beat you?"

"Now try this!" Lan slotted in a BattleChip. "Shotgun BattleChip in! Download!" Megaman's right hand changed into a weapon that had a similar appearance to his standard Mega-Buster but unlike his standard weapon, he fired rapid beams at Gutsman, who was barely able to protect himself from the shots.

"We're not going to let you win Lan!" both of Gutsman's fists changed into mallets and he sent a powerful shockwave straight towards Megaman. "It's over!"

"Not quite! Area Steal and Sword BattleChips in!" Lan remembered a combination he learned from Ms. Mari's class when fighting against the Metools earlier and he knew that he could use it to his advantage. Gutsman was shocked that Megaman was no where to be seen until suddenly, he was sliced from behind by the Blue Navi's sword.

"Gutsman Logging Out!"

Dex's face paled when that happened and all he could do was stare at Lan without saying anything. A few seconds latter, he finally spoke. "Grrr! You just got lucky!" he began yelling. "This battle doesn't count!"

"Yeah right Dex!" smirked Lan, jacking Megaman out. "Nice work Megaman!"

* * *

><p>Lan arrived back home and as soon as he was inside, he noticed his mom and the NetSafety man near the home control panel. "Hi mom…" he said to Haruka while having his attention at the man. "Who is this guy?"<p>

"He's a man from NetSafety and he is currently checking our home control panel" explained Haruka. "You know about the ovens exploding right?"

Lan remained silent, nodding his head as Megaman spoke. "That was the accident Mayl told us about this morning."

"There…" said the man, making a quick inspection of the panel before turning his attention towards Lan. "Like I told your mother, we think that it was a virus responsible for the accidents so we're here to check every one of the control panels in Den City to be certain."

"Well…I'm glad that it didn't happen to us" Haruka was relieved as their house was so far the only one not to have their oven explode on them. "Lan, you should go to your room so you won't get in the man's way."

Lan paused for a few seconds and eventually said. "Alright Mom…" He took one last glance at the man before heading upstairs to his room.

The PET began beeping, catching the two's attention. "Lan…" said Megaman. "You got an email." Upon checking to see what it was, the brown-haired NetOp was very surprised at what he saw.

"It's from Dad!" he spoke, almost not knowing what to say afterwards. "It says 'This is Dad. Sorry I couldn't get off work on Sunday but I'll be home soon. I made a PowerUp program for Megaman though it's a little big to send by email. I promise that I'll bring it home. The two of you make a great team so keep up the good work! - Dad'" he really liked the sound of that. "Wow… That's great!"

Megaman was about to say something when his face turned serious and he felt something not too far away. "Lan, there's something happening in the Kitchen!"

"Huh?" he asked.

"LAN!" they heard Haruka screaming, causing them to run downstairs and what they saw made their eyes widen. Their oven was on fire.

"What happened Mom?"

"It's the oven…." She was really shocked by what just had happened. "I was trying to make some hotcakes but look!" she pointed to the oven. "I don't know what I should do!"

"I don't get it…" muttered Lan. "I thought it was repaired earlier!"

"The repairman said it was fixed but it's on fire!"

Lan gritted his teeth and said. "Megaman and I better jack in to see what's causing the problem" he took his PET out of his pocket. "I bet a virus or a bug could be causing this!" Making his way towards the burning oven, he extended the cord of his PET and jacked into the oven's computer. "Jack In Megaman!"

Megaman soon appeared in the oven's computer system and made a quick scan of the the entire area. "Lan, the oven's programs are all here but there's something wrong" he told his Operator as he saw many viruses attacking the system and its programs with fire all over the place. "You're right; there are viruses behind this like you said! That's not all, the data signature's that of the WWW's!"

"It's just like Mayl said" muttered Lan with a scowl.

"From the looks of it, if we don't stop those viruses, they'll tear apart the Cyber-Matrix and everything will be in flames!"

"Alright Megaman, let do this!" said Lan, holding onto his PET. "If you need BattleChip, I'll send them to you from my PET!"

"Gotcha…" Megaman activated his Megabuster and fired at the viruses, deleting several of them with little to no effort. Lan was glad that his virus busting at class was paying off and soon all of the viruses were deleted. He went towards one of the programs and spoke in a soft voice. "Are you okay?"

"We'll be fine but…" the program was badly hurt and was barely able to respond to Megaman. "We don't know how these viruses got here but…. There is something controlling the viruses in the oven control center down to the right and if you can defeat it then the fire will stop…"

"I'm on it…." said Megaman before making his way towards where the oven control center was located though it won't be easy as he suspects that there would be more viruses in the system to attack him.

Meanwhile… the repairman, with his hat off and lying on the table, frowned as he watched Megaman fighting his way towards the control center on the big screen. "What do we have here…." He said to himself, realizing that the blue Net-Navi was planning to stop the fire from destroying the entire house though he had other plans for the meddler and his operator. "You know what to do… Fireman. Delete that annoying pest before he gets too far."

"Consider him scorched!"

Megaman finally arrived at the control center and as he suspected, he had to fight several more viruses but fortunately, they weren't too much trouble for his yet he would still need to deal with whatever's controlling them. Just then, Megaman was suddenly hit by a barrage of fireballs and it somehow managed to cut off his connection from Lan.

In the real world, the oven began letting out several explosions and forcing Lan to move back a bit while Haruka screamed. "Megaman are you there? Megaman!" There was no response and he was starting to become worried when he heard the PET make a sound like a phone ringing. "Who is it?"

Laughing was heard from within the PET as the repairman's face appeared. "There's no use trying to contact your Navi, Laddie. He's done for!"

"You're the panel repairman!" snapped Lan as he glared at the man. "What have you done to Megaman?"

The man grinned at those words and simply replied. "That was actually a disguise… I am with the WWW also known as World-Three. "

"So then all of those other oven explosions… They were your doing wasn't it?" His answer was the WWW agent laughing once again.

"Guilty as charge, though I'm afraid that you won't be able to help your Navi once mine is done with him…" The image disappeared and Lan growled in anger, knowing that he had to help Megaman fast. That was when he remembered something and made his way back to his room.

* * *

><p>Megaman slowly regained consciousness and he realized what had happened before noticing that he was now surrounded by fire. "Lan, are you there?" he asked only for no response from his end. "Great, looks like we've been disconnected."<p>

"That's the least of your problems…" said a menacing voice as a new Navi appeared from within the flames and glanced at Megaman.

"Who are you?"

"I am Fireman!" answered the enemy Net-Navi, aiming one of his arms at his opponent before continuing. "Now it's time to bring things to a boil!"

* * *

><p>Lan got to his room and looked around to see where it was as it was only a matter of time before the fire spreads and the whole house would be destroyed. "It has to be around here somewhere now where is it?" He searched every part of the room until turning his attention towards the desk. "Of course! The Tool Box!"<p>

He went to the tool box and checked its contents before finding what he was looking for as a look of relief was shown on his face. "There's the Watergun!" With that said, he quickly returned to the kitchen as fast as he could. "Stand back Mom!" he sprayed the inside of the oven.

"Thank Goodness!" said Haruka. "The fire's gotten a little better!"

"We're not out of the woods yet!" Lan told his mother and checked his PET to see that Megaman was being attacked by Fireman. "Oh great… I better reconnect to Megaman before it's too late!" He hooked his PET back into the oven's computer and Megaman felt his connection to Lan being reestablished despite having a real hard time with the enemy Net-Navi. "Megaman! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Lan but I found the Net-Navi behind the oven explosion!"

"Okay Megaman, let's take him down!" said Lan, more than ready for battle against the WWW Navi.

Fireman was amused by this "Do you really think you really think you can defeat me and Mr. Match?"

"We won't know until we try!" Megaman wasn't afraid of him at all and showed it as he activated his Megabuster, aiming it at Fireman.

Soon Mr. Match's voice was heard laughing throughout Cyberspace. "I must admit, I never thought that you would last this long but now it's war! He said, doubting that they would beat him. "Like Fireman says, we're strong! Delete him!"

"With pleasure Mr. Match!" said Fireman, shooting balls of fire at Megaman and watching the blue Navi fire at them only to be knocked aside by the explosion.

"He's tough… but there's no way I'm going to lose!" frowned Lan, taking out a BattleChip and slotting it in the PET. "ShotGun BattleChip in! Download!" Megaman's Megabuster glowed and he fired multiple shots that caught Fireman off guard. "Now try this, Sword BattleChip in! Download!" The Buster transformed into a sword and he charged at Fireman, taking out his left arm with a single slash.

"Damn…." cursed Mr. Match, he couldn't believe that a single Net-Navi would be capable of this. "We got what we wanted, log out Fireman!" Without saying a word Fireman confirmed and logged out.

"Fireman Logging Out!"

"Alright we won!" said Lan, giving Megaman a thumbs up.

"Don't think that this is over kid!" growled Mr. Match, angry that he was defeated by a child. "I've still completed my mission and it is the first step in WWW's plan!"

Lan was confused by this. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't get it do you?" Mr. Match's voice was serious in tone. "I found one of the programs we need for our plan inside the oven of your house! Then again, I shouldn't have told you that but it wouldn't matter as there will soon be a war taking place and you'll all be dead! Farewell!"

"Huh?" wondered Lan in disbelief. "What do you mean? What program and what war?" Mr. Match was already gone by the time he tried to get his answer. "What is he talking about?"

The fire in the oven slowly died out and was soon no more as Lan jacked Megaman out of the computer. "The fire's out…." whispered Haruka. "Thank you Lan…"

"Great work back there Lan!"

"Thanks… You too Megaman" said Lan, though he had several things on his mind for some reason and he didn't know why.

"What's wrong?" asked Megaman with a hint of curiousity. "Are you worried about the WWW?"

"Yeah…." answered the brown-haired NetOp, closing his eyes in deep thought while thinking about what Mr. Match said to him earlier. "There's a lot of things I don't understand."

"I know…" Megaman nodded his head, frowning when he heard that. "It is our first time going up against them however there's no way they're going to control the net! Not if I have something to say about it!"

"I know… but what can we do? We don't even know when they're going to strike next?"

Megaman paused and thought about it for a few seconds then replied. "We're going to wait and be ready for them when they come… " he said in a determined voice. "We better get ready for bed!"

"Alright…" Lan nodded. "However I'm hungry, can I have a snack first?"

"You're hungry at a time like this?" wondered Megaman.

"Come on, just one bite?"

"Oh Lan!" Megaman shook his head while Haruka and Lan laughed a bit.

* * *

><p>WWW Headquarters<p>

* * *

><p>"What?" yelled a menacing voice from the shadows, not believing what Mr. Match was telling him. "You're saying that your viruses had been deleted and you were defeated in battle?"<p>

Mr. Match frowned and replied. "It's true… I never expected this to happen as well but never the less it did happen…."

"Was it a Do-Gooder Net-Agent that short-circuited my scheme?" demanded the voice, knowing that only Net-Agents and OfficialNet-Battlers were capable of standing in the way of WWW and its plans for controlling the entire net.

"Negative… It was just a blue Net-Navi named Megaman and his Operator Lan Hikari" answered Mr. Match. "Though Fireman and I are successful in acquiring the first of the four programs."

"Very well…Return to base at once!"

Mr. Match saluted. "As you wish… Lord Wily!"

Once the screen turned black, the man as Wily had both his hands on his cane and his eye hardened when he heard the name Hikari. "Why does that sound so familiar?" he asked himself. "I wonder…"

A/N: There it is! The first ever chapter of my Megaman Battle Network fic and I had to watch a full-playthrough of the first game as well as watch the first episode of Megaman NT Warrior in order to make this even possible. Also I'd like to apologize if I made any translation errors or grammar errors in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it.


	2. Count to Three

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Megaman Battle Network series or from the Megaman NT Warrior anime. This is my first updated for this story in a long while and while it doesn't look good at first, hope it will be better.

Megaman Battle Network: The Online Wars

Count to Three

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico

Several days have passed since the strange oven explosions and everyone in DenCity was relieved that the incidents won't be happening anymore. However, one night as the people were fast asleep in their homes, a strange looking man was making his way towards the school that Lan and his friends attend, stopping at the front gate. "So… ACDC elementary, DenCity…. This is the place!" he said to himself, a grin forming on his face and his glasses letting out a small shine after having spoken. "Soon my collection of Rare Chips will be the best of the world…"

* * *

><p>The next day, Lan was roller-skating out of his house, having had to skip breakfast as he was late for school once again… "Man, I'm so late… why didn't you wake me up Megaman?" he asked his Net-Navi, he really didn't want to get in trouble for this.<p>

"I tried but you were too busy staying up all night Net-Battling" explained the blue-Navi, with a scowl. "It's my fault you're such a heavy sleeper."

"You're my Net-Navi, if I can't count on you to watch out for me then who can I count on?" muttered the brown-haired Net-Op, having made it to the gate and quickly got into the school only to bump into someone along the way, causing his bag to drop to the ground and scattering several Battle Chips almost everyone. "Sorry about that sir."

"Oh no, my Rare Battle Chip Collection!" began the man in question, gathering the chips that were now on the ground and wanting to make sure they were all intact. While this was happening, Lan picked one of them up.

"Wow, that's a good one…" he didn't say anything else as the man took it from his hand before he could have time to react.

"Give me that! You're gonna lay finger prints and I hope for your sake there aren't any scratches on it!" snapped the man, inspecting for any damage that was upon it though Lan remembered that he was late and had to get going.

"Where is everyone?"

"Probably already in class right now and you got an email from Yai, she said that she called your name and you owe her one" answered Megaman, stating the obvious, causing Lan to groan as he headed to where the classroom was located, barely able to get inside.

_Okay, here goes nothing…_ thought Lan, resorting to sneaking into the class and wanting to make sure he doesn't get busted doing so. Fortunately, it went pretty well, successfully getting to his desk just as Ms. Mari was about to make her speech to the class. _Alright, I made it!_

"Well class, now that we're all here… I'd like to introduce to you a guest lecturer from Den University" she told the class and entering the room was someone who Lan had previously bumped into earlier. "Everyone, this is Mr. Higsby. He'll be helping me teach class for the next two weeks."

"Good morning, Mr. Higsby!" the classroom greeted the newcomer, while Lan took a good look at him and was surprised to see it was the same man he had bumped into earlier.

"Hey, Megaman, have you seen him?" he asked his Netnavi. "He's the same guy we met this morning while we were running to school."

"You're right… well, talk about coincidences!" the Netnavi answered in surprise. "I had simply dismissed him as some weird guy with an obsession for Battlechips. The more you know…"

"He looks somewhat goofy if you ask me…" Yai commented from her desk, looking at the glasses-wearing young man in surprise. "Not exactly someone I'd peg as someone from Den University."

"Yeah, he looks like a nerd too…" Dex whispered.

Mayl cleared her voice. "Guys, that's not a very polite thing to say… I mean, he's here to be a substitute for our teacher, and we should give respect where it's due!" she said.

"Alright, I know…" Yai stated. "I was just saying the guy looked a little weird, that's all there is to it."

"Ahem…" the glasses-wearing man cleared his voice as well, calling for the classroom's attention. "Now that we are through with introductions and stuff… I believe we should start our lesson, huh. Ms. Mari… I am thankful for your aid, and I believe I will be able to handle this lesson by myself. You have an appointment, if I recall correctly."

"Indeed I do…" Ms. Mari answered, taking a quick look at her PET's clock. "I wouldn't want to be late right now, so… I'll leave you to your lesson, and I'll see you later. Good work, Mr. Higsby… and have a nice day, children!"

"Thank you, Ms. Mari! Same to you!" the children answered almost in unison as they stood up and bowed to the young teacher, who smiled, waved at them and began walking away. Higsby smiled as well and waved at Ms. Mari, before sitting down at his desk and beginning the lesson.

"Okay, children… we might as well begin now!" he stated. "First off, we should start with something that is among my favorite subjects… which is, Virus Busting!"

"Sweet!" Lan exclaimed. "I'm beginning to like this substitute teacher already!"

Megaman chuckled and scratched his cheek in awkwardness. "Yeah… I had a feeling you would say that, Lan…"

* * *

><p>The first two hours of lesson had been quite enjoyable for the class. Higsby had shown them some quite impressive and innovative virus busting techniques, using several rare Battlechips from his collection and using them in unexpected ways. Lan and Megaman, in particular, had absorbed every teaching like a sponge, and the young boy was eager to get in the next NetBattle to test out what he had learned.<p>

Then again, he thought back to when he and Megaman went up against Fireman and his operator when his oven caught on fire… the question remained was what was it they had gotten that was in the oven itself and how important it must have been for them to go to his place. "Lan! Lan!" he heard Mayl's voice calling out to him and snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just had a lot on my mine lately…" he told the red-haired girl, though the two of them had been childhood friends and neighbors, she couldn't help but show a bit of concern for him. "Especially due to what happened several days ago, especially as it was my first time having fought one of those WWW guys."

"Wait, you actually went up against a member of the WWW?" asked Mayl in shock, which Lan nodded his head to answer her question and made her frown.

"Yeah, he disguised himself as a technician and he was the one responsible for causing the oven incidents to boot" he explained, remembering how much trouble he had against Fireman previously. "When Megaman and I beaten him, he said that he already got what he came for in my oven no less and that a war may start soon."

"Wait, a war may start soon? You're joking right?"

"I wish I was Mayl, though I have a bad feeling that if we don't stop the WWW soon then it will happen and…" Lan never got to finish what he was going to say when Higsby returned to the classroom, hiding the grin that he had on his face. "I'll tell you more about it later."

"Alright class, as you know we live in a network society where computer viruses pose a constant threat" explained Higsby, beginning to teach the class on today's assignment and pointed to the glowing square on the blackboard. "This is the security system that protects the central control program here in ACDC Elementary."

"Mr. Higsby, where's Ms. Mari?" asked Mayl, noticing that Ms. Mari hadn't come into the classroom since this weird man became a teacher here in the school. "Hope she's alright."

"She's fine… She was sick and went to the nurse's office" answered the mysterious man in question and cleared his throat. "Anyway, the first class will be Study Hall and I want you all to do math drills. I'll be checking them later."

"This stinks!" muttered Dex, biting his lower lip at this and failed to notice that Higsby's glasses were gleaming as he picked up his PET.

"Now, I'd like you to jack into the blackboard like this" he told the children, jacking his PET into the blackboard itself as a demonstration to the entire class. "Alright everyone… good luck." With that, he left the room though Lan had a bad feeling about that guy but couldn't understand why.

"Man, math is hard especially in the…" he didn't finish what he was about to say when he saw that something was wrong and an error message appeared on the blackboard, shocking everyone. "What the?!"

The error message began flashing, startling everyone… and after a few seconds, the screens filled with static, before showing the image of a crazed-looking old man with spiky bushes of graying hair at the sides of his head, a cybernetic eye and a grey moustache appeared on the screen, glaring hatefully at everyone!

"Eeek! What is that?" Yai exclaimed.

The old man on the screens waited a few seconds before speaking, in a raspy voice. "Well met, young people of DenCity." He stated. "For those who don't know me, I will now introduce myself. I am Dr. Albert Wily, supreme leader of World Three, and we are now here to announce the real goal of our plan to control the net!"

"What?" Dex exclaimed in outrage. "What is this old man blabbing about?"

"Lan! This is a WWW re-education program!" MegaMan exclaimed.

Dr. Wily paused for a second, and then went on with his chilling introduction. "The World Three's true plan is to start a war… the EndGame! We will take control of the military nets and all other nets! The only cure for this rotten world… is deletion!"

"What?" a shocked Mayl exclaimed. "Why would they do that?"

"To reach our goal, the WWW is hiring new staff members! We will begin a new instruction program… starting today, right now! Children! Study well, and become good slaves to the World Three!"

"What? No way, man! Not me!" Dex exclaimed. "Let's get outta here, everybody! I'm not staying here to listen to this old man rant his head off!"

"Me neither!" another kid answered… but when Dex got to the door and tried to open it, he found out much to his dismay that it was electronically locked, and there was no way to open it without hacking into the system. Worse yet, Mr. Higsby seemed to have disappeared somewhere, and there was no exit in sight!

"Noooo!" a girl exclaimed. "What are we going to do now? We can't get out!"

"And the terminals are locked! They can't be turned off!" another boy said, trying without any success to turn off his screen.

"O… Okay! Okay, everyone! Please, be calm! We'll find a way out of this!" Dex exclaimed, in an attempt to keep things under control. "GutsMan! You and I will try to stop those viruses!"

"Guts! I'm ready!" the massive NetNavi exclaimed, banging his fists together.

"Wait, Dex! You and GutsMan can't do it all by yourselves!" Lan intervened, preparing his PET to jack in as well.

"Lan and I will lend you a hand!" MegaMan stated. "Lan, have you brought your battlechip pack with you?"

Lan smiled cunningly and showed Dex his battlechips. "Of course I did! We are always ready for a nice NetBattle!" he said. "How could I not bring my chips with me?"

Yai sighed and shook her head. "Really, Lan… I should have expected you'd be a fan of such a rudimentary means of entertainment!" she stated with a superior smirk.

Mayl shrugged as well. "Well, you know what they say, Yai… boys will be boys!" she said with a short giggle.

Her pink NetNavi called to her from her own PET. "Now, now, Mayl… you don't think I didn't see it, do you?" Roll said with a wink. "The fact that you have a set of battlechips as well, I mean!"

The red-haired girl winced. "Ow… that was supposed to be a secret, Roll!" she exclaimed. "Er… okay, I'll admit it, I collect Battlechips myself… but I'm not as good a NetBattler as Lan or Dex, really!"

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem." Roll answered. "We just have to support Gutsman and Mega while they try to unlock the door, that's all!"

"Alright then," said Mayl, knowing that Roll was right and had her PET ready to be jacked into the school's network as they needed to act fast. "Let's go, Jack-In Roll, Power up!"

"Don't forget me! Jack-In Gutsman, Power Up!" Dex was the next to hook up his PET, more than ready to take on whatever viruses were awaiting them and Lan knew that it was his turn now.

"Jack-In Megaman, Power up!" Soon all three Net-Navis were now within the school's network and saw that it had some major changes, unfortunately several viruses were guarding . "Okay, Shotgun Battlechip in, Download!"

Megaman's right arm changed into a weapon resembling the Mega Buster and without another thought, he managed to do a large number on a group of the Viruses guarding the first barrier.

"Let's try a Roll blast!" Roll had two fingers on her lips and blew several small hearts to take out another set of viruses, saving one of the School's Navis from being deleted by them.

"Guts… GUTS!" Gutsman's hands turned into large mallets then let out a large shockwave on the ground, wiping out a dozen Metool Viruses like they were nothing and allowing Roll the chance to get to the first barrier.

"Are you alright?" asked Megaman, hoping that nothing was damaged beyond repair on the Navi's systems and silently nodded to him after a few seconds. "This is bad Lan, the entire network here is different than it was before, this must be the work of the WWW."

"We'll have to fix the net later Megaman, right now we have a job to do" explained Lan, knowing that they have more important matters to attend to for the time being. "We need to find the program locking the doors."

"Roger!" Megaman nodded, understanding that his operator is right and rejoined with Roll and Gutsman as they needed to stop this program before any permanent damage could be done.

* * *

><p>Outside the school, a young woman with dark green hair stopped nearby and saw that something wasn't right at all… a sign showing that trouble was just around the corner as she stepped out of the pink trunk she was driving.<p>

"Hey, Sal… what seems to be the problem?" asked a large, rotund NetNavi whose body seemed to be made of wood, with long arms and oversized hands, as it peeked out of his PET.

The green-haired young woman narrowed her eyes as she approached the school building. "I'm not sure about that, WoodMan…" she answered. "It seems to me that things are too quiet around here. I just hope there isn't WWW at work here. I think we should go take a look at what's going on around here."

"Alright then." WoodMan answered. "And if there actually is the WWW behind all this, we'll have to alert Miyu and Commander Beef. There have been far too many suspicious incidents around here for my own tastes."

"Yeah, I see what you mean, WoodMan." Sal answered. She looked around and found a place where the walls of the school yard were a little lower, then she nimbly climbed upon them and dropped down inside the courtyard, curious to see what was going on there.

* * *

><p>In the school's net, the battle between Megaman's team and the viruses was continuing, and while the NetNavi were managing to hold their own, the viruses came in staggering numbers, and were keeping the defenders of the Net busy. Megaman managed to raise his Widesword just in time to block the attack of a Swordy virus, a strange virus looking like a floating helmet with a pair of tiny arms, one of which was holding a laser sword. For his part, Gutsman was getting frustrated fighting off a small ghostly virus called a Spooky, who was teleporting away from him every time Gutsman seemed to be close enough to hit it!<p>

"GUUUUTS!" Gutsman exclaimed in anger, with white steam coming out of his ears. "Hold it right there and face me like a man, Guts!"

"Gutsman, don't lose your cool!" Dex told him, getting ready to send a Battlechip to him. "Remember, that virus teleports away every time you get too close, but it becomes defenseless once you get it to attack you! Get ready, I think it's coming!"

With a low hissing sound, the Spooky virus disappeared from Gutsman's sight without him having gotten close, and the huge NetNavi cooled down and began waiting for it to appear again. Knowing when the right time to act was, Dex inserted a Battlechip and gave an order.

"Alright, GutsMan! Wide Sword Battlechip in, download!" the large boy exclaimed. GutsMan's right arm turned into a huge laser sword, and he swung it in a powerful arc in front of himself, striking the Spooky virus just as it reappeared in front of him, and causing it to disappear in a shower of colorful pixels. "Alright, way to go!"

Megaman swatted away the Swordy's weapon and struck down the virus with his own laser sword, causing the opponent to be deleted. "Phew… these viruses are tougher than it looked. Roll, are you okay? Are you managing to bring down that barrier?"

"I'm almost there, Megaman!" the pink NetNavi answered, using her golden antennae to analyze the wall and weaken it. A few seconds later, Roll smiled and gave Megaman a thumbs-up. "I got it! We can pass through this lock easily now!"

"Great job, Roll!" Megaman said happily as the barrier that separated them from the door's terminal disappeared, leaving the NetNavis free to disable the lock on the door. Megaman's right arm morphed into the Mega Buster and fired a shot with pinpoint precision, blasting the lock into smithereens.

In the real world, there was a loud click as the classroom's door opened up, and the children cheered loudly as they were freed. "Yay! They did it!" a girl exclaimed.

A boy gave a relieved sigh. "I'm glad we could count on you…" he said, happily congratulating Lan, Dex and Mayl for their help. The three of them smiled happily at their classmates, but just then, another beeping sound came from the desk terminals, and the children quickly ran to them to see what was going on. Much to their surprise, they saw Mr. Higsby's face popping up on the screens – he was grinning confidently, adjusting his glasses in an attempt to look cool.

"Higsby!" muttered Lan, growling silently at the sight of the so-called substitute teacher, who merely grinned at the sight of the three children. "Just what is going on here? Now that I think of it, where are you when this is all happening?"

"I'm afraid that where I am is going to remain classified young Lan" explained the teacher, giving another grin to the children. "Unfortunately, while it is true that you managed to get yourself and the class free somehow, the entire school is still locked down just as planned."

"Just as planned, wait a minute…." Mayl a realization and a scowl formed on her face upon putting two and two together, curling her right hand into a fist. "You're a member of WWW aren't you and we trusted you too!"

Higsby laughed a bit and soon clapped his hands in response to that. "So you've figured it out, well it's too late… most of the school's residence is starting to slowly come under the control of Dr. Wily and it won't much longer until this world burns." He said without a hint of emotion to his voice.

"You bastard!" yelled Lan, getting more angry than ever at this turn of events and gave a very nasty glare now that they know of his true colors then remembered something important. "What have you done with Mr. Mari?"

"Don't worry, she'll be alright for now" he said to the younger man, though is clearly not revealing her whereabouts seeing as these kids can't be allowed to ruin the plans that is already in place. "However, you won't be able to stop the process as I'm the only one capable of doing so."

"And I suppose you have no intention of stopping this brainwashing sequence aren't you?" demanded Dex, wanting to teach that criminal a lesson he'll never forget once he gets his hands on him. "You better hope we don't eventually find you, otherwise there'll be hell to pay!"

"Like that will ever happen, however… there is a way you can put an end to all of this, if you're willing to take a test and it has to be in the form of a Net-Battle. Pass it then you'll all be set free."

Lan and the others growled even more, though before they could even respond to that there was one more thing that Higsby needed to say. "Oh and it has to be a one-on-one Net-Battle so choose wisely as the fate of everyone in the school lies with whoever is chosen to face me."

"I don't believe him… This is just sick" Mayl bit her lower lip, as they gathered together since they need to decide on who will face Higsby and the sooner the better too. "What do you suppose we do?"

"The only way to save everyone in the school is to beat Higsby at his own game" explained Lan, realizing that there is no other options available and all communications to the outside world are offline.

"Let me and my Gutsman take care of that punk…" Dex spoke up, grabbing the PET that was around his neck though Lan shook his head then smirked as he had something else in mind involving that.

"I appreciate the idea but, it would make more sense if Megaman and I handle this one…" said Lan, which in a way made sense due to the two having fought a member of the WWW before and that was inside their own home to boot. "You guys need to go find Ms. Mari."

"Okay then…" Dex murmured, a little disappointed that he and GutsMan wouldn't get part of the action. "C'mon, GutsMan… our help is needed elsewhere!"

"Lan, be careful!" Mayl told her childhood friend, knowing that if World-3 was behind this incident, he and MegaMan were in for a tough fight. "We'll find Ms. Mari and rescue her, but take care of what you do!"

"Of course! Don't worry about me!" Lan stated, giving their friends a thumbs-up sign. "What do you say, MegaMan? Are you ready to take down that clown?"

"I'll be glad to!" the blue NetNavi answered. "Let's go, Lan! He can't be that far away."

* * *

><p>With that, the door to the corridor slid open, allowing Lan to get outside and run towards the stairs to the upper floor, hoping that they might find a few hints about Higsby's whereabouts. There must have been a place where the guy could have hidden himself and not get caught, and now he and MegaMan had to think about it and find it. Though Lan wasn't sure where to start looking.<p>

"Ok, MegaMan… if you were a World-3 guy, and you needed to hide in a school… where would you go?" Lan asked his NetNavi, who thought about it for a moment and then nodded to himself, smiling as an idea came to him.

"Well, considering the World-3 minions are experts at hacking and infiltrating in systems, he must surely have gotten inside a room that he keep closed. I wouldn't be surprised if he modified the security programs to shut himself inside a room so that we won't be able to physically reach him. And I wouldn't be surprised if he was hiding in the underground as well." MegaMan answered with a cunning smile. "So, I think the best thing to do would be to look for a closed door and try to force our way in by forcing the security program and destroying the viruses inside the school network. In fact, I think it would be safer if we were to jack in from here and look for any sort of unusual activity."

"You're a genius, MegaMan! What would I do without you, I ask myself sometimes!" Lan exclaimed joyfully.

The blue NetNavi smiled and chuckled as well. "Well, you know how it is, Lan… we make a pretty good team exactly because we help each other out where the other needs the most. No offense, but you've always been the more impulsive of us two!"

"Hehehee… guilty as charged!" Lan admitted. He spied a jack-in port close to a fire hose and nodded to himself, thinking that could be a good way to get into the school network. "Okay, that's our cue, MegaMan! Let's reach the school network and give those WWW bastards what they deserve! Jack-In, MegaMan!"

The young boy connected his PET to the port, and MegaMan immediately materialized inside of the school network… which seemed to be relatively quiet, all things considered. MegaMan had already been there in some occasions, and had some familiarity with it… he was quite surprised to see that the Mr. Progs running the system were still functioning fully, and there didn't seem to be many viruses around. Aside from a few Metools (both the yellow and the red variety), there didn't seem to be many threats around. It was a little suspicious, and MegaMan was wondering if there weren't surprises of some kind around there. Maybe the viruses were just laying in wait in order to ambush him when he least expected it…

Needless to say, the viruses suddenly took notice towards Megaman and began their assault on him. "Okay, Area Steal Battlechip In, download!" Lan slotted in his Area Steal Battle Chip in order to avoid the shockwave assault. "Okay, let's try this… Mini-Bomb Battle Chips in download!"

A Mini-Bomb appeared in Megaman's hand and he threw each one that he received at the opposing Metools, deleting them one after another until not a single virus remained. Then again, both Net-Op and Net-Navi knew that this couldn't be that easy to take them down… something was definitely wrong here.

Suddenly three Quake Viruses came crashing onto the ground at top speed, which Megaman was barely able to avoid being crushed instantly. "What the?!" He was shocked when several more Quakes appeared from above, causing massive cracks onto the floor in the process.

* * *

><p>Watching from within his hiding place was Mr. Higsby with an evil grin on his face as he was a bit curious on the Blue Net-Navi in question. Looks like I underestimated Lan and his Navi… no matter, the next phase of the plan is about to begin…. I can almost taste those Battle Chips" He said, a moment before Dr. Wily's image appeared on the screen. "Everything is going according as schedule Sir."<p>

"Excellent Higsby, you shall be rewarded for your success in this mission but be warned… failure is not an option" Dr. Wily warned the so-called teacher, as he wanted results. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Understood, however three of the students at this school seem to be getting in the way right now" explained Higsby, revealing to his superior the intervention of Megaman, Roll and Gutsman as they fight off the viruses controlling the school. "Do not fear, I have a little surprise in store should they discover my location"

"For your sake, you better be right…" scowled the evil scientist, the image disappearing from the screen and Higsby couldn't help but give a serious glance as he returned his attention towards Megaman.

* * *

><p>In the meanwhile, Lan mentally muttered a curse as the Quake viruses proved to be a tough group to take down, especially due to them expanding in size. "I've never seen those types of viruses before; I better try something new…" he said, taking out a Battlechip that could help. "Repair, Battlechip in Download!"<p>

The first thing to do was to repair the floor before it could collapse from the weight of the viruses in question. Which, he will need to think of a means to bring them down before they cause anymore damage to the area. As soon as another Quake virus teleported above him and expanded in size, MegaMan dodged quickly, and Lan sent another Battlechip at him before the virus could get away to safety.

"WideSword, Battlechip in Download!" Lan exclaimed. MegaMan's right arm transformed into a broadsword made of white energy, and the NetNavi swung it in a wide arc, slicing through the Heavy virus before it could get away. The virus soon disappeared in a shower of particles of light, and MegaMan smiled in relief when his arm turned back to normal. "Yeah! That's the ticket, MegaMan! We need to use a more damaging Battlechip like Widesword as soon as the viruses come within range. Get ready, another one is coming!"

"No problem, Lan, I can take care of them." MegaMan answered. Another Heavy virus dropped down, and MegaMan quickly avoided it with a sideways dash before taking it down with another swing of his WideSword.

Soon enough, the viruses had been taken out, and Lan used another Repair Battlechip to put the floor back to normal. Looking around himself, MegaMan saw a door of sorts, probably leading to another part of the school net, which had been locked with a series of horizontal beams of light that formed a grill of sorts that blocked access. Curious about that, and willing to see if there was away to get around that protection, MegaMan got close to the gate and examined it.

"What's the matter, MegaMan? Is there anything about that gate that makes you curious?" his operator asked. MegaMan stood there wondering for a little while, before nodding in assent.

"Yep. This door requires a passcode to get through. If we can't find it, we won't be able to proceed further into the school net." MegaMan said. "I'm willing to bet it's another trap…"

"You are correct." An high-pitched voice said, as the image of a strange NetNavi with a dome-like head, clad in a futuristic white suit with a green body armor, gloves and boots. His eyes were two golden orbs of light, with a small square-shaped mouth, and a calculator was placed on his chest, giving out seemingly random numbers. "In order to get through this firewall, you will have to find the right number. By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is NumberMan, and I am Higsby's faithful NetNavi. Numbers are second nature to me. Let us see if you can best me at my own game."

"I have no time to waste on your silly games!" Lan fired back. "Let us through, or you'll regret it."

"You cannot threaten me." NumberMan answered. "The image you see in front of yourself is my projection. I am in a whole other part of the Net now. So, let us see if you are a skilled mathematician… in order to pass through here, you will need to tell me how many chairs are in Class 5A."

"What?" Lan asked in disbelief. "What's the meaning of this, NumberMan? You expect us to go back to Class 5A and count all the chairs?"

"Exactly. And do not try to get smart with me." NumberMan warned. "You should know that we can see everything that goes on in this school by hacking the security cameras, so you will not be able to bluff us on this."

"I'm afraid we need to play by his rules, Lan… or else, we won't get out of this place!" MegaMan answered, lowering his buster. "Okay, Lan… I'll stay here while you go to Classroom 5A and count the chairs."

"This might be dangerous, MegaMan. If some viruses attacked you now, you wouldn't be able to get Battlechips from me!" Lan tried to argue.

Megaman, however, was not so easily swayed. "I am aware of that,, but I need to stay here and make sure this section of the Net doesn't get invaded yet again." He answered while giving a scowl. "Don't worry; I'll make do with my Buster."

"I just hope you're right…" began Lan, making his way towards Classroom 5A and there wasn't enough time to waste, mentally cursing the WWW for what's happening to the entire school. Unfortunately, Numberman and Higsby won't make things easy for either of the two.

"We'll just see about that" said Mr. Higsby, making contact with his Net-Navi with his face turning serious upon the image appearing on screen. "The poor sap doesn't know what he's getting himself in for, by the time he's finished counting, the entire school will be under our control, don't worry… I'm sure that Navi of his won't be by himself, you know what to do."

"With pleasure Hisgby…" Numberman's eyes began glowing bright yellow in response to that, while this was happening, Megaman patiently waited for his Operator to return with the number needed to get past the first lock and as he did so, he would notice a large amount of orange insect-like viruses began to fly down towards him.

"Just my luck…" Megaman muttered to himself, activating his Mega Buster and opened fire at the approaching viruses, the only problem is that more seem to appear when he deletes a few.

Lan on the other hand, got to Classroom 5A and examined the desks inside. "Okay there's one, two, three, four five…" He tried his best to count them as fast as he could, the downside is that needed to be certain not to count the ones he already did otherwise he'd have to do this all over again. "Alright, Megaman… there's a total of nine chairs in the classroom."

What he saw on his PET was unfortunately Megaman being preoccupied with another swam of viruses. "Nuts, of all the times for this to happen!" he silently cursed, knowing that his Net-Navis won't be able to last much longer if this kept up. However, a surprise would come to his aide in the form of a few Wood Towers that managed to come between Megaman and the viruses. "What was that? Never mind, you better put in the passcode right now!"

"On it!" said Megaman, carefully entering the code into the lock, with a mechanical ding, the lock slowly dissipated. "Alright it worked! Thanks Lan!" Though he was wondering where those Wood Towers came from, he can't dwell too much on it right now as they had a job to do.

However, much to his surprise, he would witness another Net-Navi appearing before him and he raised his Mega Buster as he thought it was another agent of the WWW sent to stop him from saving the school. "Okay, who exactly are you?" he asked the Navi in question, its body looking like its made entirely out of wood.

"There's no time for that right now, what matters is that we stop the brainwashing program and soon." explained his new ally, which in a way made him and Lan a bit confused but at the same time suspicious when Lan received a call on his PET.

"Huh?" he wondered, an image of Sal appeared on the screen and he was a bit curious on the young green-haired woman. "What's going on? Who are you?" he asked, as if he wanted some answers right now.

"Let's just say that we're here to help, I'll give you the details later" answered Sal, giving a serious expression on her face as she was in another part of the school and saw that Lan wasn't so convinced. "I can see you don't trust me yet, it can't helped, just be ready to aid your Net-Navi when he reaches the next lock."

Lan remained silent for a moment, but knew that this mysterious operator was right and quickly left the classroom, just as Megaman is about to continue down the path to where the next lock was currently located. He reached the gate a few moments later and examined the lock in order to see what the question was. "Okay, Lan… the password for this lock is the number of flowers in the vase in the school courtyard."

"Ouch… this might be a problem, I have no idea how many there are… and I would take a rather long time to count them all!" Lan exclaimed in slight dismay, trying to think of a way around that. Luckily for him, the mysterious green-haired girl who had helped him earlier came to his aid once again, and gave him a nice pointer.

"No problem about that, my friend." Sal said. "There's exactly 43 of them."

Both Lan and MegaMan were surprised at this, and the young boy turned to the green-haired young woman in order to ask her what was that about. "Huh? Miss… how do you know about that?" Lan aske in curiosity, only to have Sal smile gently at that.

"I guess you could say that I know one thing or two about this school." She answered. "And I've always had a soft spot for plants and flowers, so it's not hard for me to remember everything about them. Now, input this passcode, and get through the gate. Good luck!"

"Thank you for your help!" MegaMan thanked, before inputting the pass code. The gate was immediately unlocked, and MegaMan smiled in satisfaction before stepping through the newly revealed exit.

* * *

><p>Mr. Higsby grit his teeth in frustration when he saw MegaMan step through the gate and unlock another door. "Daaaarn… and here I was sure that the brat would have had an harder time with that code!" he exclaimed in frustration. "NumberMan, I'm afraid we'll have to take care of it ourselves. There's still another lock the kid has to go through, and I'm afraid he will soon find the remaining pass code. Do you think you're up to it?"<p>

"Don't worry, Higsby! He may be a good NetBattler, but when it comes to numbers, I have yet to meet my match!" NumberMan exclaimed proudly. "If he does get through the last gate and get to the teacher, I'll personally make sure he goes to the deletion bin!"

"Make sure you do, NumberMan!" Higsby answered. "And remember, we are not doing this for those rare Battlechips… we are doing this for that LOAD of rare Battlechips! Thanks to the WWW, my collection will be the best ever!"

NumberMan chuckled at this. "You can count on that, Higsby. In fact, I think MegaMan should start counting his blessings, because they will soon run out!"

* * *

><p>Another door unlocked, Lan entered a smaller room which seemed to go deeper into the school. In fact, more than a room, it looked like a small corridor going into a larger room. A window beside the door on the other side of the corridor allowed Lan to take a peek inside, and he was able to see that Ms. Mari was lying on the ground on the other side of the door, her hands bound behind her back, her ankles tied together, and a cloth covering her mouth. She seemed to be struggling to get free from the ropes, but the knots had been done skillfully, and she was unable to get free.<p>

"Look, MegaMan! Ms. Mari is right there! We need to get into that room and get her free somehow." The young boy exclaimed. He tried to open the door, but he wasn't surprised to see that it was closed with an electronic lock, which meant that he and MegaMan needed to get back in the school net and force the door open. "Okay… I'm willing to bet there's another code to find, but for now… let's see if we can get that lock deactivated somehow! Jack in, MegaMan! Execute!"

Once Megaman was jacked into the network, he saw it was guarded by not only a dozen Metools, among them this time were a few with red helmets making them more dangerous than the normal ones, but also a new kind of virus which resembled a Ghost with a nurse's hat on along with a few Cannons. "Looks like we have trouble" he told his Operation with a frown, knowing it would take more than just the Mega Buster to take out those foes.

"Already on it, Cannon Battlechip in, Download!" Lan slotted in a single Cannon Battle Chip, giving his Navi a more powerful weapon than the Mega Buster and he fired it at an unsuspecting Metool which was deleted before it had the chance to react. This however alerted the other viruses in the process.

While this was going on, Numberman was waiting for the right time to make his move but first he will want to watch and see if Megaman was capable of getting past the viruses guarding the lock. "Well, well… what a surprise…" he said to himself, wanting to enjoy the show for now.

A group of five red Metools gathered together and tried to surround Megaman, proceeding to unleash a Shock Wave that they know he won't be able to defend himself from. "Barrier Battle Chip in, Download!" Lan quickly slotted a Barrier Battle Chip in order to save his partner from the brink of deletion. "Our turn, Sword Battlechip in!"

Megaman glared at the opposing viruses and with a single slash, he managed to make quick work of them. Unfortunately, he was struck from behind by an unseen attacker and fell to the ground, revealing it to be one of the Spooky Viruses from before. "Oh no Megaman!" yelled Lan, looking for another chip to send to him when a Roll Arrow took it down just as it was about to attack again.

"Wait that was…" he never finished what he was going to say as Roll managed to jack herself into the system followed by Gutsman, who crushed a Cannon with a single punch before pounding his fists.

"Mega!" Roll went by his side, helping him back up which he was grateful for the assistance though he had a few things on his mind. "You okay?"

"Yeah, give me a minute… how did you find us?"

Roll shrugged a bit, then said. "It's a long story, still it's a good thing we showed up when we did… you could be deleted like that. Just what were you thinking?"

"Lan! There you are!" Mayl and Dex managed to find their way to where Lan was much to his surprise, as they had at least some good news to share with him out of this entire mess.

Unfortunately, Numberman was pretty annoyed by this intervention and didn't want anyone to get in the way of this ultimate mission, refusing to see those Rare Battle Chips slip through their fingers. With a snap, the viruses began to continue their assault on the three.

"Uh oh, we better talk later…" suggested Megaman, since they were still in the middle of a battle and decided it would be best to discuss this once it was all over, especially as they also needed to find Higsby after they take out the Net-Navi responsible for taking over the school.

"Okay, leave these guys to us!" Roll said, giving MegaMan a wink and a thumbs up. A red Metool tried to approach her and hit her with its pick-like weapon, but the pink female Navi was quick to react and dodge, before unleashing a rain of pink hearts on the enemy viruses, deleting several of them in one shot. "**Roll Flash!**"

"**Guts Hammer!**" Gutsman went on, transforming his joined fists into a huge metal hammer, and slamming it down on an attacking Fishy virus. The flying virus was smacked out of the air and crushed to deletion by the sheer force of the blow, and Megaman was able to sneak away from the main battle and reach the edge of the room, where he quickly found himself face to face with another gate. He placed his hand on the glowing barrier, trying to read what the riddle for opening it was…

"Okay… I think this is the last one before we can save Ms. Mari!" Lan said. "What does it say, MegaMan?"

The NetNavi read the request for the passcode. "Just let me read it… okay, I got it! It says that, in order to pass through this door, we need to insert the number of doors in this whole school!"

"Crap, but that's just crazy! How can we manage to go out there, count them all, and come back here in time?" Lan exclaimed, understanding that Higsby and NumberMan had set up the code so that it would be more time-consuming than the others. And this time, they couldn't even rely on Sal and WoodMan to know that…

"I have no idea how, but we need to go out there, count all the doors, and come back here!" MegaMan exclaimed. "Or else, we won't be able to reach NumberMan and give him and Higsby the what-for!"

"Then leave that to us as well!" Mayl exclaimed from her connection to Lan's PET. "Dex and I can split up and go count the doors on one side of the school each. Then, we'll get back here and add up the numbers we got!"

"It's dangerous, you know that, right?" MegaMan said, looking at Roll and Gutsman still holding off the horde of viruses running around. "Without you to send Battlechips to your NetNavi, it will be more difficult for them to fight against these viruses!"

"That's why we're going to make it as fast as possible!" Dex stated. "We trust our NetNavis! I know my Gutsman is strong enough to handle all these guys! And then again, you're also here to lend them a hand, right?"

"Well, that goes without saying." Lan admitted with a small smile.

This wouldn't be easy as a small group of Quake Viruses soon emerged from the sky and expanded in size as they attempted to crush Megaman only for his quick thinking to help him avoid their assault. "Cannon Battle Chip in, download!" Lan slotted in a Cannon Battle Chip in order to better fight those viruses in an attempt take them out fast.

"Thanks Lan."

Soon they heard laughing, which sounded just like Numberman's and realized that he wasn't too far behind but right now what matters is getting the passcode needed to get Ms. Mari out of the room she was trapped in.

* * *

><p>In the meantime, Sal saw that more than half of the entire school had been brainwashed by the WWW program and there wasn't much time left before the rest eventually succumbs to it. The thought of that made her shudder a bit though the good thing was Lan and his friends were doing what they can in order to stop this, her thoughts were eventually interrupted when she received a call from her PET. "Sir?" she asked, answering the call in order to report to her superior.<p>

"What is happening out there?" asked the infamous Commander Beef, having a stern expression on his face while wishing to know the status on the current situation going on within AC/DC elementary.

"Not good, more than half of the school has come under the control of the WWW re-education program that was placed, I'm still looking for the source I'm afraid" she answered with a frown, yet that wasn't all that she wanted to explain to him. "There is however a blessing, three of the students here are actually fighting the viruses within the network and are attempting to free their captive teacher."

"I see… in any case, keep an eye on them for now you'll never know when the WWW agent sent to take over the school may strike" he told the green-haired Net-Agent, nodding his head. "Just stay safe as well."

"I will Commander Beef, thank you" said Sal, saluting to him before ending communications and turned her attention towards Woodman, as he was able to take out nearly a dozen Metools as well as a small number of Cannons.

It was then that she took notice towards Mayl, who was just beginning to count the number of doors on her side of the entire school and this made her want to watch what the red-haired girl is doing for now just like Commander Beef wanted her to do.

"This must be one of his friends…" commented to herself while hiding from sight but continued glancing at Mayl's counting, the girl seemed rather nice enough due to what she had heard about prior. A small smile had formed on her face as she watched. "I have a feeling this isn't the last we'll hear of those kids. They're doing quite a good job taking care of the WWW already."

* * *

><p>"Keep it up, Megaman!" Lan cheered for his NetNavi while sending another Battlechip at him. "Longsword Battlechip in, Download!"<p>

MegaMan nodded, looking at his arm as it transformed into a thin, long beam sword, and he slashed at a Fishy-type virus who was hovering just outside of a regular sword's range. The flying virus was deleted immediately, but more came from seemingly nowhere, and Megaman knew he could not keep up forever with the assault. Even with Roll and Gutsman there to help him, there was just no end to the waves of attackers.

"I have things under control for now, Lan… but if this keeps up, I won't be able to do it for long." He stated, firing a few shots from his Mega Buster and hitting a few Metools. Lan nodded and sent an Invisibility battlechip at his NetNavi, causing his body to become invisible at the eyes of the viruses, and giving him a few moments of respite. Megaman was able to take advantage of the moment by firing away at the opposition, and keeping them at bay. With a relieved sigh, Lan started looking at what Battlechip he could use… and just then, he was relieved to see Mayl and Dex coming back in a hurry and stopping near their PETs to catch their breaths.

"Dex, Mayl! I'm glad to see you're alright!" Lan exclaimed. "So… have you managed to count the doors?"

"Of course we did!" Dex answered, grinning and giving Lan a thumbs-up. "I've count 12 doors on my side!"

"And there were 14 on mine! That adds up to 26 doors total!" Mayl continued, with Lan flashing a beaming smile and turning back to the battle.

"Thanks a bunch, everyone! Did you hear, Megaman? 26 is the right passcode!" Lan told his Netnavi, who was still under protection from the Invisibility Battlechip. Megaman nodded and dove towards the door, eluding the viruses still trying to get a hold of him, and quickly entered the numeric password, causing the lock to vanish, and finally giving him access to the rest of the school net, with Gutsman and Roll staying behind to handle the viruses. Roll winked at Megaman and fired a barrage of pink hearts at a group of Metools, deleting quite a few of them, while Gutsman slammed his fists on the ground and unleashed a powerful shockwave that struck down a Cannon and a Fishy.

"Thank you, everyone! I'll make sure to make this count!" Megaman thanked his friends before running down the newly unlocked passage and into a new room inside the school net, until her reached another hollow room, where someone was just waiting for him to show up. As soon as he was able to see clearly, MegaMan saw that NumberMan was already standing in the room, his expressionless eyes affixed upon him.

"Hm. I must say, I am impressed you made it this far." NumberMan said as MegaMan stepped forward. "You and your operator made it through all of my riddles. But I'm afraid I can't let you stop the WWW program right now. My operator Higsby and I are in the middle of an important operation for the WWW, and we cannot let anyone interfere!"

"I thought you guys were good people, but you've been tricking us all along!" Lan exclaimed angrily. "Why are you working with those criminals anyway?"

Mr. Higsby appeared in a comm. window beside NumberMan and adjusted his glasses, giving Lan and MegaMan a smug smirk. "Hehehee… well, isn't that obvious? The WWW big cheeses will reward us with a load of new and rare battlechips if we can complete this mission!"

"What?" Lan asked incredulously. "You're doing all of this… you're threatening a whole school… over a bunch of rare battlechips?"

"Hey kid, do you have any idea how much they cost?" Higsby protested. "I couldn't pay for all of them if I worked my whole life! And my dream is to have the biggest collection of rare Battlechips in the world! I am working for the WWW because it's the only way I can earn them… and you're not going to stop us! NumberMan… do a number on MegaMan!"

"With pleasure, Higsby!" NumberMan answered, as he and MegaMan faced off against each other. The two NetNavi were ready to fight, and MegaMan narrowed his eyes as he aimed his Mega Buster at his opponent.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way!" MegaMan said. "You ready, Lan?"

"You bet, MegaMan!" Lan answered. "Battle routine, set…"

"Execute!" MegaMan concluded.

"Don't take us lightly Megaman, the odds are against you!" Numberman produced two Number Tenbous in his hands and prepared for battle, which Lan and Megaman could see that they need a good strategy in order to beat this guy.

"Okay, let's go… Sword Battle Chip in, Download!" Megaman's right hand transformed into a powerful sword, he was more than ready to put an end to the fraud of a teacher's plans. "Bring it on!"

"With pleasure!" laughed Numberman, charging straight at Megaman, both Net-Navis being locked into melee combat and the latter could see just how powerful the WWW Navi truly is while Numberman saw that Megaman is as good as he had heard yet Lan knew that they needed to get Ms. Mari out and soon. "Not bad but you'll have to do better than that if you want to defeat me!"

After a laugh, he produced a dice with one arm and watched as it rolled towards Megaman, landing on the number 6. "Is that it?" asked Lan, finding it rather amusing that it was just a dice though he and Megaman would fail to notice that their opponent had figured they would believe that as an explosion occurred in front of the blue Navi .

Higsby on the other hand grinned as he believed that he had done the impossible and defeated Megaman with one attack. "Great work Numberman and now…" he was unable to finish his sentence as he saw that when the smoke cleared, Megaman had somehow survived. "What the?!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Higsby but I managed to use Area Steal to get Megaman out of there just before that Dice blew up and that was a close one, you actually had us caught off-guard for a second" Lan stuck his tongue out at the WWW agent. "It's our turn now, Cannon Battle Chip in, Download!"

Megaman's weapon quickly changed into a Cannon and took aim towards Numberman, once he was in range and a single shot; they noticed that the opposing Navi wasn't even trying to avoid the shot with a much bigger shock happening as the attack made contact but some kind of barrier blocked it. "Please tell me this is not the best you can come up with!" he said, the barrier fading away after stopping the attack. "Now it's time for a proper counter attack!"

Another dice was thrown, this time landing on a two and the explosion knocked Megaman back a bit. "Damn… looks like this could be a problem…." muttered Megaman, biting his lower lip when another dice came his way and landed on the number one, this time he was able to get out of the way more so as he realized something. "That was close, Lan… I think the number on the dice determines how powerful the explosion will be."

"In other words, we need to take this guy out before he has the chance to roll another six on that thing!" Lan mentally cursed, realizing that they have another reason to have to stop Numberman. "Sword Battlechip in, Download!"

Numberman would have grinned if he had a mouth though the bright glow of his eyes showed that he had something up his sleeve and threw two dices rather than just one this time, with one landing on a number two and the other on a number one, forcing Megaman to jump back to avoid the explosion only that was what Higsby wanted him to do.

"I got you now!" yelled Numberman, hitting Megaman across the face with one of his Tenbous and knocked him into the ground much to Lan's dismay, once this happened, he soon throws three dices, each of them landing on the number six with a series of explosions occurring afterwards. "It's all over now!"

"So much for your precious Megaman, it looks like we've done Dr. Wily a favor by deleting him" Higsby began laughing, thinking it was finally over and that nothing was left to get in his way of getting all the rare Battlechips that he wants, as the smoke cleared... he saw a strange hole where Megaman crashed. "What is that?"

Numberman was wondering the same thing as he approached the hole itself, armed with both Tenbous… yet when he looked down towards it, he would fail to notice something popping up from within and to the shock of both WWW agents, it was none other than Megaman himself.

"Guess you didn't count on my Popup Battlechip did you?" Lan began grinning at Numberman as now was their chance to end this fight. "WideSword Battlechip in Download!"

Megaman's left hand turned into the WideSword and he swooped down towards his opponent at top speed, Numberman tried to throw another dice only to see it sliced in half by the WideSword while the normal Sword was swung down towards the Navi, who knelt down to the ground. "I'm sorry! Please don't divide me!" he begged, hoping that the Blue Net-Navi would show him some mercy.

"Return control to the school's operating system!" Megaman ordered him, not wanting to take any chances as his sword was close to his opponent's head.

"As you wish!" The doors and the windows quickly began opening up, a sign that Megaman and Lan were successful in stopping the Navi responsible for this and everyone was quite relieved by this, even Sal silently smiled as there was still one more thing left for them to do.

"Alright Lan, let's restart the server and put the net back to normal!" Megaman informed his Operator, who nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>As the school was finally back to normal and everyone was starting to recover from the brainwashing program, Hisgby was on the ground as he was begging for forgiveness for the crime that he had just committed. "I still don't believe it, why would you even work for scum like the WWW?" Lan asked the criminal in front of him and the others, including a freed Ms. Mari. "You could have not only caused harm to this school but also to the rest of the world."<p>

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself…" Higsby pleaded to the group, finally understanding what he was doing was wrong even if he was doing it for Rare Battlechips that he would buy with the money from the WWW. "Rare Chips are my life, most people don't appreciate their true value! I couldn't bare to see them wasted, I now know that it was a terrible thing that I did and I'm begging you to forgive me!"

Ms. Mari had a serious expression on her face, she was still not too happy that Higsby tied her up and locked her in a room while he took over the entire school but she couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the man. "Mr. Higsby!" she said, wanting him to look at her when she's speaking to him. "You should be ashamed of yourself! You've frightened these poor children and purposely sabotaged school property, even going as far as nearly turned everyone into mindless robots!"

Hisgby was at a loss of words, not knowing what to do as she continued. "Do you realize that what you've done was a crime? Did you know that with one phone call, I can have you in jail for a very long time?" This remark made him lower his head in shame and nodded his head; this was a serious crime indeed and would be pretty surprised when she knelt down towards him. "Then tell me, do you remember the very first Rare Battlechip that you received as a young boy?"

This was a rather surprising question, he didn't even remember that day rather well as he was quite young at the time. "It was such a long time ago, I'm not sure…" he spoke in a somewhat low voice.

"Now think back… did you even understand the true value of them then?" she asked him in a caring tone, hoping that it would help him to remember. "I bet you didn't… Did it matter though? Was that Chip wasted on you?"

It was still rather fuzzy, yet he would slowly start remembering that exact Battlechip she was talking about… "It wasn't a waste, I remember now!" he started to sound happier as thought back to when he was a boy. "It was the happiest day of my life!" This made him start shedding tears and he started regretting everything he did even more. "I can't believe I've been so selfish! Can you… ever forgive me?"

"I'm willing to give you another chance, if you're willing to give these kids a chance to learn about Rare Chips…" Ms. Mari smiled softly at him; place a hand on her shoulder as a means to reassure him that he's forgiven. "What do you say Professor Higsby?"

Higsby couldn't contain himself anymore and sobbed in front of the others once more, but was now shedding tears of joy. "I will… Thank you!" he barely managed to tell Ms. Mari who simply smiled at him once more.

Lan turned his attention towards his PET and said. "Hey Megaman…" he got the attention of the Navi within, making him rather curious on what his Operator wanted of him right now. "Good job, I couldn't have done this without you."

"Don't mention it Lan, still I am curious about the woman we met earlier, that Navi of hers sure was powerful" said Megaman, thinking back to when they first met Sal and Woodman when they were trying to stop Numberman and Higsby from turning the school into servants of the WWW. "By the way, you got English class coming up…"

"Aw man… We fixed the server too soon…" whined Lan, causing the others to laugh as regular classes will be starting again right now thanks to their efforts.

* * *

><p>WWW HQ, unknown location<p>

* * *

><p>Dr. Wily was infuriated as not only has his plan been interfered with, but somehow the one responsible for it was the same Navi who defeated Mr. Match and Fireman not too long back. "Who is this blue bomber that keeps taking down my Net-Navis?" he asked himself, even angry that Higsby has decided to have a change of heart but even that won't permanently hinder him with what was to come. "Perhaps I've underestimated him after all…"<p>

A/Ns: I deeply apologize for the late update as I had a lot of stuff happening in my life and I completely forgot about this fic with that, I am sorry. I definitely hope that you would enjoy this chapter and the next one won't take me as long to get worked on though it will depend on what happens with me.


	3. StoneMan's Blockade

Disclaimer: Been a while since I last worked on this fic, in any case I don't own anything from the Battle Network series or any other Capcom related stuff, it was a real shame that Kenji Inafune left Capcom and Megaman Legends 3 got cancelled because of it but they had no right to blame the fans for the game's cancelation or saying there wasn't enough support.

Megaman Battle Network: The Online Wars

**Chapter 3: StoneMan's Blockade**

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico

"Yaaaaawn… boy, was it a rough day today…" Lan Hikari lamented as soon as he was out of school, rubbing his face in order to chase away the urge to lay down and sleep. One week had passed since Highsby and NumberMan's attack on the elementary school, which ended with MegaMan defeating the number-obsessed NetNavi with the help of GutsMan and Roll… and once again, life had returned to normal for the inhabitants of the small town, thug the lingering menace of World-3 was never too far from their minds. On that particolar day, Lan, his friends and all the citizens were waiting for some very important news – and both Lan and MegaMan were waiting for an important call to arrive. "Okay, MegaMan… is it just me, or the Metroline for Dentech City should be opening today?"

"Yep, that's correct." The Blue Bomber answered, checking his memory banks for a moment. "I twill be the fastest and most economical way of getting to Dentech City and coming back from there. It will certainly be a great thing forus all, don't you agree? Oh, and by the way, why don't we go to Scilab and surprise your dad? I'm sure he will be very pleased to see usa s soon as the Metroline opens up!"

"Heheheee… that's actually a good idea, MegaMan!" Lan answered, pleased at the idea that he would be able to see his father again. Lan's father Yuuichiro Hikari was one of Scilab's greatest scientists, and his research on NetNavis and viruses had been a huge advantage to the development of the modern Net… but his job left him very little time to stay with his family, and Lan often missed him when all the other kids his age could see their parents every day and took that for granted. "I think we might also pick up the PowerUp program he developed for you, what do you think?"

"Yeah, that would be a good idea! In fact, I think we should also tell Dex, Mayl and Yai about this. I think they will be happy to join us!" MegaMan told his human friend.

As the two walked back home, making a mental note to send a mail to their friends in order to let them know about their idea, they walked close to a flight of stairs going underground, immediately recognizing it as the Metroline station that was about to go online. Several technicians and programmers were going back and forth from the place, evidently making the final adjustments to the programs and the facility, and both Lan and MegaMan became curious and decided to ask them a few questions. Getting closer to the restricted area, the young boy raised his hand when he saw one of the technicians seemingly taking a few minute sto relax, pouring himself a soda. "Excuse me, Sir? Can I ask you a few questions?" he asked, drawing the man's attention.

"Oh… sure, kid, ask away." The man stated. "You wanted to ask about the whole Metroline business, didn't you?"

"Hehehee… yeah, more or less." Lan chuckled. "I just wanted to ask, what time do you think Metroline will be operative?"

"Well, the trains are already completed, and everything is in place from a mechanical and electronic point of view." The man answered. "Though… we're having a few problems with the informatics. Apparently, there has been a landslide in one of the tunnels, and the trains can't be started up. See, kid, the whole train system is run by computer. When there's an accident, the safety program should stop the trains, but the program was hit with a virus! It doesn't look like anyone broke into the control room, So we think that someone got in through the net."

"Oh… I understand. Maybe we should check things out on the net?" MegaMan asked.

"That would be a good idea" answered Lan, knowing that it had to be the WWW's doing, plus he remembered that his father was also sending a new Battle Chip to him to make up for not being able to send the PowerUp program, this was the first thing he needed to do before he can find a place to Jack into. It took a few seconds for the chip itself to be revealed and he was rather surprised when he downloaded it from his PET. "It's an ElecSword Chip... That's great, now I have an elemental sword, I still remember when he sent the LongSword Chip to me before that whole mess with Higsby at school but I already have the regular Sword and the WideSword, plus the LongSword'sattack power is only a Level 2."

"Hey Lan, remember your dad also sent a message when he gave us the LongSword" explained Megaman, examining the previous email that came with said Battle Chip itself. "It says use this third sword wisely..."

"Is that all? Use it wisely, what is that suppose to mean?" asked Lan, rather curious by what his father meant by this ever since that day and that if the LongSword is the third Sword he was talking about then what were the other two since the message didn't mention it, though he'll find out about that later as they need to deal with the virus that was giving messing with the Metroline's program. "Oh well, I'll keep it with me just in case I need it."

* * *

><p>What Lan didn't know, was that he was being watched by a woman with dark-brown hair tied in a ponytail, dark purple lipstick and wearing a black outfit with a pair of black sunglasses completing the look, she had a wicked smirk on her face as she decided to contact someone. "Lord Wily, it looks like there's a kid trying to play the hero" she said, the image of Dr. Wily himself appearing before her, rather intrigued by this information.<p>

"I see... you have done well, keep an eye on him for now but don't intervene unless you have too... I have someone who will deal with him personally."

The woman nodded, understanding the mission assigned to her. "Very well, as you command." She replied, ending communications. Back at WWW HQ, Wily had a feeling that the young boy may in fact be the same one who defeated Mr. Match and Fireman which makes things rather more interesting than he thought.

"Now I am certain that this boy is the one that Match has told me about and if his meddling Net-Navi or the one belonging to that do-gooder Net-Agent try to stop you, I want you to delete them!" he informed a shadowed shilouette of an unknown Navi on one of the screens, while its appearance wasn't shown completely, it's body did look block-like in a way. "I expect great things from youbut don't fail me like Match and Higsby did... You are one of my greatest warriors!"

Wily began laughing, knowing that this Navi won't be stopped unlike with Fireman and Numberman before it and not as long as he has an army of viruses at its disopal, even if this boy is able to get past them, they'll never stop his ultimate plan from being achieved. For his part, the shadowed Navi nodded to his master.

"You can count on my services, Master." He spoke, his voice sounding like thunder rumbling in the distance. "I will not allow anyone to mess with our plan to destroy the accused Net."

"Good." Dr. Wily said with a venomous grin on his wizened face. "Show them what WWW is all about."

* * *

><p>As soon as they had gotten home and greeted Lan's mom Haruka like always, Lan and MegaMan had decided to jack in from Lan's PC and take a look around the Net in order to see what the problem was with the Metroline programs. As soon as MegaMan was in, he saw that nothing seemed to be wrong with the net, at least at first glance. Every Net-Navi and Mr. Prog was going about their everyday business, and they didn't seem to really be affected by what was going on in the Metroline net.<p>

"Lan, I don't see anything suspicious here." MegaMan told his operator, who was keeping an eye on the surroundings as well. "It seems we will have to dig a little deeper if we want to discover what is going on here."

"Yeah, I figured that would be the case." Lan answered. "By the way… I did as you suggested me to do, and I kept that Longsword chip in my deck. I'm not sure if it really will be useful, but just in case."

"That's a good idea." MegaMan answered. "Now, let's see where we could check first…"

As MegaMan and Lan were about to start their research, a panicked scream came from a nearby Net-Navi, who stumbled backwards and ended up sprawled on the ground when something appeared out of nowhere and slashed at him, causing him to lose his balance and fall! With an alarmed cry, several more Net-Navis and Mr. Progs turned to the font of the noise… and widened their eyes in panic as a small horde of viruses, looking like some sort of strange, stocky armored grey figure with a spike instead of legs and holding a beam sword in one of their hands appeared and began spreading panic throughout the place, slicing at the closet things! A few Mr. Progs were slashed by the strange viruses' swords and were deleted, but most of them managed to get away in time, only for the enemies to start pursuing!

"What?" Lan asked in shock. "What's going on? How did those Swordy viruses get here?"

"I have no idea, Lan, but we need to intervene now!" MegaMan exclaimed. "If we let them be, they'll tear the place apart!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Lan agreed. "But be careful, MegaMan! Those viruses pack a punch, and they can use AreaSteal to get closer to us in a snap!"

"Don't worry, I got this!" MegaMan answered, pointing his Mega Buster to the closest Swordy and opening fire! The sword knight virus managed to deflect the first shot with its sword, but the second blast struck true, deleting the Swordy on the spot.

Unfortunately, there were still more Swordy Viruses in the Net and if they weren't taken down quickly, not only would there be more damage, but sooner or later they would contact reinforcements.. Lan knew what they needed to do. "Alright, Shot Gun, Battle Chip in!" with the Shot Gun, Megaman was able to delete at least two to three of the Swordys but more manage to appear in their place with one using Area Steal in order to launch a sneak attack on the Blue Net-Navi. "Pop Up, Battle Chip in, download!"

The Swordy slashed with its sword but with the Pop Up Chip, Megaman was able to dodge the attack just in time and then prepared to launch his counterattack. "Ready whenever you are Lan!" he said to his operator and partner, more so with the brown-haired boy having another Battle Chip ready to use against the virus.

"Sword, Battle Chip in, download!" Slotting in the Sword Battle Chip, Lan watched as his Navi emerged from the hole, slicing the Swordy in two with his sword. "Alright we got it!" he said, though they still have alot more to do before this was all over.

In the shadows, another Net-Navi was shown with an evil grin on his face and was rather curious about Megaman's fighting capabilities, however he was ordered not to take action for now until the time comes. "So this must be the blue Navi that I've heard about..." he mused to himself, watching as Megaman took on the surviving Swordys. "I better report that he's right in the network."

The Swordys began regrouping as they surrounded Megaman, not wanting to take anymore chances against him and intend to avenge their fallen allies. "Area Steal, Battle Chip in!" the Area Steal Chip was used, allowing Megaman to avoid being diced by a tripple attack though they need to be careful as one wrong move could cost them big time. The Blue Bomber was able to delete another Swordy that failed to notice his attack until it was too late.

"Spreader, Battle Chip in, download!" Lan decided to change weapons, bringing out the Spreader since they can't block a multiple blast attack like with the Shot Gun earlier and wanted to make sure it works. To his surprise, the plan worked since the Swordy that was fired upon was able to block one or two shots before the remaining ones deleted it. "I got an idea, but we need to wait for the right moment."

"I understand Lan, be ready!" Megaman replied back, with the remaining Swordys realized that they needed to end this quickly otherwise their leader won't be too pleased with this and gathered together once more in one final bit in taking their opponent down permanently. "Now what are they up to?"

The Viruses in question prepared for a combination attack, one that the Net-Navi won't be able to avoid as they raised their swords for a slash from diffrent directions, Lan needed to wait a bit longer otherwise it won't work though he would see that the Swordys are preparing for something else that made him scowl.

"We won't be able to dodge ths attack, Lan." MegaMan stated, keeping his cool. "Are you ready? You know what wemust do in these cases."

"Of course I do, MegaMan…" the young boy answered, his hands inching towards one of the battlechips in his deck while the Swordy circled MegaMan like a bunch of vultures circling a victim, and raised their swords to strike. Lan searched for a couple seconds, and then grabbed the right battlechip and inserted it in his PET's slot. "Invisibility Battle Chip In, Download!"

As soon as the battlechip was inserted, MegaMan turned translucent and then disappeared from under the Swordy viruses' eyes, leaving the knightlike critters confused and surprised. They esitate for a couple seconds, more than enough time for MegaMan to slip away from their surrounding and let their slashes hit nothing but thin air, before he charged up a powerful Mega Buster shot and blasted the farthest Swordy. The virus vanished in a cloud of luminous blocks, and its companions quickly turned in the direction of the shot to deal with the menace. However, MegaMan was still invisible, and the viruses wasted a few seconds looking for him, which allowed him to launch another attack!

"Well done, MegaMan! Now, let's see how they handle this!" Lan exclaimed. "Let's do it,MegaCannon, Battlechip In, Download!"

MegaMan's arm turned into a cannon and fired an Energy shot at another Swordy, destroying it before the two surviving knightlike critters tried could get closer. One of them slashed at MegaMan, grazing his right arm before the NetNavi was able to get away.

"Guard, Battle Chip in, Download!" Lan exclaimed. At that, MegaMan's left arm turned into a shield similar to a Mettaur's helmet, and he used it to block one of the Swordies' laser blades. A shockwave burst out of the shield a moment later, and the knight-like virus was hit and pusher backwards for a short distance, before the second one closed in and tried to hit MegaMan with his blade. A powerful round house swing struck the Navi in the arm, causing him to cry out in pain and lose the effects of his Invisibility as he stumbled backwards. MegaMan grit his teeth and clutched his injured arm, before raising his Mega Buster and firing a powerful volley of shots towards his opponents. One of the Swordies was deleted on the spot, but the other one tried to hit MegaMan again, and the Blue Bomber was barely able to dodge sideways.

"MegaMan, hold on!" Lan exclaimed, inserting a Recover50 Battle Chip in his PET. The wound on MegaMan's arm immediately disappeared, and the NetNavi managed to get back in fighting shape just in time to fend off another attack.

"Lan, I think you should try out the LongSword chip you used against the Viruses that Higsby sent against us before!" MegaMan suggested, trying to keep away from the virus' blade. "It might be just what we need to take down this virus!"

"Are you sure about that, MegaMan?" the young boy asked. When he saw his NetNavi nodding to him and dodging a sword slash from his opponent once again, Lan sighed and, despite not being too convinced himself, grabbed the LongSword battlechip from his deck and inserted it in his PET. "Okay then, here goes nothing… LongSword Battle Chip in, Download!"

MegaMan's arm quickly changed shape and morphed into a long laser blade, which he swung in an arc in front of himself, striking the last remaining Swordy! The sword-wielding virus was sliced clean in half and disappeared into a shower of harmless data, leaving the place clean and quiet, and MegaMan sighed in relief as a rather eerie silence fell all around him.

"Good work Lan, though we still got alot more to accomplish" he told his operator with a smile of relief, making sure that the surviving and Net-Navis that fled during the attack had made it out safely. "We need to get moving, whatever was responsible for the attack earlier might be guarding something important."

Lan nodded his head, though it would be a good idea if Mayl and Dex were to know about this as well. "Good idea, I'll send an email to Mayl and Dex if they can help us" he said, which couldn't help to make contact with the two if they weren't too busy with other stuff. "I just hope they can join with us on time."

* * *

><p>"Thank you, come again..." Sal bowed down to the custom at her flower shop with a light smile on her face when she got a signal from her PET, a sign there was something happening that needed her attention. "Commander Beef, this is Agent Sal reporting for duty!" she saluted to the masked Net-Agent on the screen above Woodman.<p>

"I am sorry to interupt your business but there is a crisis that needs our attention and I suspect that the WWW is behind this" began the mysterious Commander Beef, even he was unaware of what the crimminal organization had to gain by stopping the entire Metroline from running on the day it is suppose to open. "Then again, you are the only one closest to where the event is taking place."

Sal remained silent for nearly a few seconds then nodded, understanding that this is going to be more dangerous than what had happened at the school. "I understand, Woodman and I are on the case..." she said, having a feeling that the boy that she met might end up getting involved in this task and that the WWW won't be taking him very lightly this time around. _I hope that he isn't doing anything too reckless._

"I am sure you will do fine, good luck" said Commander Beef before his image disappeared and Sal gave a serious expression on her face, closing the shop early since this was a mission that she couldn't refuse.

"Okay, let's get started..." she said to herself, knowing that they needed to get to the Metroline's Network as quickly as possible before the WWW causes some permanent damage, there is a very bad feeling the organization would have one of their more dangerous henchmen to perform the task so the two will need to be careful.

Then again, Lan and his blue Net-Navi were already on it... the henchman would see them as a primary target for stopping the brainwashing program from a week ago and those guys will need as much assistance as possible, which means only one thing to do which Woodman agreed that it would come to this. "Sal..." he spoke, catching her attention since it would have to be her decision if they were to get the young boy and his friends into this mission or not. "What are you going to do?"

Without a word, Sal was in deep thought as from what she had seen... Lan and his two friends Mayl and Dex proved to be rather strong on their own especially the Net-Navis known as Megaman, who was able to defeat Higsby and Numberman by himself, with a little help from his operator of coursebut a part of her didn't like the idea of risking their lives especially since they weren't Net-Agents by any means.

"I am not sure about that yet, Woodman…" she told the gigantic Wood-element Net-Navi, as she thought about the situation. "There is no doubt in my mind that the situation needs to be solved as quickly as possible, but I don't think those kids should get involved. Net-crime can be a dangerous business, and children should never get involved in such problems."

"Yes, I see your point." Woodman went on. "However, it should be obvious that those kids are pretty skilled. They did manage to lennd a hand during the attack to the school from the WWW, and that Megaman guy defeated not one, but two of that organization's top agents. We could always use their help."

"I am not sure what to do myself, Woodman." Sal answered, looking for a place where she could get changed without living herself away. She managed to find what looked like a darkened phone booth and entered it… only to remerge a moment later in a completely different attire, sporting a body-encompassing black cape and a black bandanna on her head, covering her eyes as well. Dressed as she was, there was no way anyone could have recognized her, or at least, that's what she hoped. "Anyway, I am ready. We can start whenever you want. All we need to do is find a jack-in port, and see how things are doing in the Metroline Net."

"I do wonder what the WWW hopes to do by messing up the works…" Woodman commented, as he and his masked operator started sneaking around in search for a place where she could let him in the net. "Maybe we should contact Miyu about this as well?"

"Not a bad idea, but I think Commander Beef has already taken care of that." The masked Net-Battler answered. "Anyway, it never hurts to give her a call. I'm sure she and Skullman might be a great help."

With a quick motion of her hands, Black Rose composed a message and sent it to her best friend, hoping she could get there in time since she knew Miyu had her shop in DenTech City, which was rather far away from there…

* * *

><p>And in the meantime, Lan and Megaman had reached the entrance to Dex and Gutsman's site, and were looking around in search for their friend… even though they had read a luminous sign in front of the site's entrance which warned everyone against entering the site!<p>

"Well, let us never say Dex isn't one who warns you of the dangers…" Megaman said in aslightly sarcastic voice as he read what was written in front of the site's entrance. "_Dex's PC. Get out! That means you!_ I don't think he could have been clearer…"

Biting his lower lip, Lan had a bad feeling that this could hinder their chances at stopping the one responsible for causing the problems for the Metroline but they can't just give up now despite this obstacle in their path and they were the only ones who can discover what was truly happening.

"Well… I should hope he'll be a little more forgiving to a friend… even though he always tries to defeat us in a Net-Battle!" Megaman joked, knowing how much the large boy and his brawny Net-Navi are like in general

"Maybe, then again it is Dex we are talking about here..." Lan found it to be rather amusing , never the less, they still need to find a way to gain entrance to the site itself which means there is one option to them "Still it would be a good a good idea to pay Dex a visit, it might be our only chance to get to the bottom of this... besides, Yai and Glyde gave us permission to use her Network after helping them find their missing program not too long back."

"It could be worth a shot" said Megaman, Jacking Out of the net and with that in mind, the two quickly made their way towards Dex' house though at the same time, hoping his friend had gotten the email that he sent to him before. The good news was, the house wasn't too far away and it didn't take long for them to arrive there to properly explain the situation to Dex, however he wasn't too happy about the idea of allowing Lan into his PC.

"You want access to my links?! No way dude!" snapped the larger boy, having his arms crossed at the brown-haired Net-Battler much to the latter's dismay though he did think it over and a grin formed on his face as he had an offer that Lan can't refuse. "However, maybe I will if you can get me a Recovery 50 BattleChip."

"Wait?! Awwww... come on, we don't have time for this!" exclaimed Lan, especially as whoever the WWW had sent to mess with the Metroline is still causing massive problems and if they don't do something, the damage may become permament. "Would you really want to make me go through this while the world is at risk?"

Dex laughed at this, knowing that it would be too much fun to pass up as part of payback for the defeat his friend gave to him and Gutsman before. "Come on Lan, it is not going to take you that long to get that chip!" he said, having an idea on where Lan should start looking. "Besides, Gutsman saw one in a jack in port at Mayl's house."

"I guess that makes it easier on myself... " the young Hikari was rather relieved that he knew where to check, mentally commenting to himself that it better be worth it but the downside, Dex wasn't done just yet.

"Just one problem... I forgot the address of where it is..." Hearing that made Lan fall onto the ground, anime-style and he began silently cussing in any language that he could think of as he got back up, curling his right hand into a fist while a vein formed on his forehead as if it was just about to pop any moment.

"Oh for... I'll be right back!" he yelled, heading downsides while Dex and Gutsman had another good laugh, wishing both him and Megaman luck on this little scavenger hunt... the Blue Net-Navi on the otherhand, simply had a bad feeling about this but what choice did they have? There was some good news, Mayl had responded to his email. "Finally, let's see what she has to say..." what he read, he began to frown a bit.

_Hey Lan, give me a moment... I'm just having a shower right now. I'll meet with you ASAP!_

"Man, just my luck..." he muttered with a sigh, senting another message to her that he's coming to her house as Dex really needs that Recovery 50 chip from her network if he's going to allow Lan into his PC's network while promising he's not going to do anything that could potentially get himself sent to the hospital. "Alright, Megaman, can you wait here for a moment? I'll hop at Mayl's house and get that chip… make sure no more viruses get here, or we'll be in quite a bit of trouble."

"Don't worry, Lan, I can handle myself here." Megaman answered, living his operator a thumbs-up. Lan smiled and nodded before getting his things ready and walking out of the door, heading to Mayl's hose, who was only a short distance away from his. The boy pusher the entrance door open just a little, peeling inside, and saw that nobody seemed to be inside… aside from Mayl who was quite probably upstairs in her room. Lan began looking around, hoping to find his childhood friend there somewhere… she couldn't be in the shower already just a minute after she had sent rthat message to him, could she?

"Mayl?" Lan called out to his friend, looking in the living room, then the kitchen… and then went up the stairs, thinking she could be in her room. "Mayl, sorry to barge in like this, but I really needed to speak to you now…"

He opened the door to Mayl's room… and was greeted with the sight of Mayl wearing only a white towel around her body, just about to go into her bathroom and turn on the shower! Both pre-teens stood there in a stunned silence, looking at each other with incredulity… and then Mayl let out a scream and grabbed the nearest book she could find, throwing it right in Lan's face!

"Aaaaaargh! Peeping tom!" she screamed. The book struck the dumbfound Lan in the face and stood there for a few seconds as if it was glued to the boy, before falling off and leaving Lan's face distorted in a comical expression of pain, a red mark where the book had hit!

"Owwww… nice shot, Mayl…" Lan murmured in a daze, before Mayl slammed the door to the bathroom shut! "Man, I'm afraid I really pissed her off now… guess I'd better get out before I get into even more trouble… darn, I should have waited for her to come out…"

As Lan was about to walk away, the door to the bathroom opened again, and Mayl walked out, wearing a white t-shirt, red shorts and a rather annoyed expression on her cute face! Lan stopped and looked at her in surprise – and he had to admit, she did look cute… hold on a second, did he just think Mayl was cute? – before Mayl sighed and walked up to him. "Okay, Lan Hikari, you have my full attention NOW. Seriously, Lan… was it REALLY necessary to come into my house after I told you that I was going to take a shower?"

Lan sweatdropped, feeling quite stupid. "Er… I'm sorry, Mayl, but it was really very important…" he attempate to explain himself, knowing that even though she was usually nice and gentle, Mayl could be quite a spitfire when she was angry. "You see… there is this strange problem with the Metroline net, a WWW Net-Navi is blocking it and stopping the line from being activated. Which is causing all kinds of problems, as you can imagine."

"Well what does coming into my house have to do with you coming into my house?" asked Mayl, her arms were crossed as she needed to know more about the reason he came to her place despite her reply to the email he sent prior and she never would have thought that her childhood friend would even be a pervert. "You better tell me the truth, by the way."

Lan remained silent for a few seconds, not wanting to screw up what he was going to say next while mentally cursing Dex for getting him into this mess in the first place. "The thing is, in order to reach where that Net-Navi is, I needed to get through Dex's network and he won't give me acess to it unless I get him that Recovery 50 chip, I didn't mean to walk in on you and all..." he wanted to be as truthful and apologetic as possible about the incident earlier. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."

There was nothing but silence in the room as Mayl had a serious expression on her face as she gave Lan a glare that made him think that there was a dark aura around her, though as he waited for what the red-haired girl was gonna do to him next, she gave a sigh. "Lan, why didn't you just say so in the first place..." she said, heading back into her room which her own Navi... simply shook her head with a frown.

"Lan, Lan, Lan..." began Roll, she would have thought that Lan would be smart enough to wait a moment until Mayl was done with her shower before coming into her room but then again, this is Megaman's operator she was talking about, even if Megaman should have been making sure that Lan wouldn't get himself into this kind of trouble. "By the way, where is Mega?"

"He's waiting for me while at the same time.. making sure there aren't any viruses from that WWW Navi I've been telling Mayl about" explained Lan, though it made sense for Roll to be concerned as she did have a crush on Megaman for sometime only the Blue Bomber wasn't as dense as his operator when it comes to girls. "I'm just hoping that he'll be okay until I get that Chip, I still can't believe Dex is making me do this..."

Roll's expression changed into a scowl, especially learning that Dex nearly got Lan in serious trouble with Mayl though it was his own fault for not waiting like she told him to via the email previously but at the same time, she had a feeling Megaman could use some help against this WWW Navi in question, fortunately Mayl came out of the room with the Recovery 50 Chip in her hands. "This is the chip you wanted right?" she asked, which he silently nodded and hoped that he would finally be allowed to go into Dex's PC after all the trouble he's been through just to get that Battle Chip. "Next time, just knock first before you come barging in okay?" she added, her cheeks flushing a bit as she said those words.

"I will, again I'm sorry about that..." Lan recieved the chip while bowing down briefly but she wasn't finished with him just yet as she had one more thing she needed to say after having learned the reason for why he came into her house, making the brown-haired young man even more worried than ever.

"Just so you know, I'm coming with you... I'd like to have a few words with Dex myself" she commented, having a feeling that Dex knew that he couldn't get the chip himself if he sent Lan to get it from her place especially with the fact that her best friend really needed to save the Metroline right now. "Then how about we go stop that WWW, that is if you need some help against it."

"I'm not sure about that, Roll… Mayl… I mean, we are dealing with the WWW, and we know that those guys pull out all the stops when it comes to being a threat." MegaMan wanted to add, worried for his friend's and her operator safely. "Are you sure you aren't going to get in trouble by doing this?"

"I'm afraid Roll and Mayl aren't going to be palmed off so easily." Lan explained. "Be careful, though… We need to be careful, girls, and if you don't feel like you can do it, you'd better quit now and stay safe."

"We are not weak damsels in distress needing a strong brave man to bail us out." Mayl stated, pointing her finger directly at Lan and MegaMan. "You'll see just how strong we are next time you need a hand. And don't go around underrating us just because we are girls, you'd be sorely mistaken."

"That's good at least." Lan stated. "Sorry, Mayl, I keep reminding himself that you would be a great help, amd that you can certainly hold you own with deleting viruses and all… Well, then, let's not waste any time! We need to stop the WWW from doing… whatever they are trying to do now! We need to protect our town and make sure the Metroline can start functioning!"

"Well said, Lan!" MegaMan answered. "Well, well… you sure seem more confindent and trustingin yourself, right? That's good, but take care not to get in over your head."

"Well… since we've already faced WWW before, I think I have a way of countering all the nasty trick they might be playing on us." Lan answered. "So of course I'm a little more confident! But don't worry, I'm sure we won't get in trouble. Now, all that I really need to do is get this Recover-50 to Dex… man, the things I have to do sometimes…"

Mayl giggled to herself, amused by her friend's exasperated tone…

* * *

><p>Soon enough, Roll and Megaman were back in the net, close to the place where Megaman had entered Dex's private net. "Okay, here we are…" Lan stated. "Now, hold on a second here, Mayl, as I go give that Battle Chip to Dex…"<p>

"Alright, just don't take too long..." explained Mayl, seeing Lan making his way back inside Dex's house just to get this whole thing over with, in fact Dex was at his computer desk and was smirking as he could imagine what Mayl was doing to Lan, though those thoughts were broken just as his brown-haired friend turned his chair around with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Well well, look who's back!" smirked Dex, having figured that Lan had some serious trouble in getting the Chip for him but played dumb just for the fun of it, more so as he wished he had his video camera for what had happened at Mayl's house. "Did you get the Recovery 50 chip that I sent you to bring me?"

"Yeah, I did and let me tell you... I had to go through hell to retrieve it!" snapped Lan, showing the Battle Chip just to show that it was indeed what Dex wanted. "Can I please get the link for your Network as Megaman and I need to stop the WWW!"

"Actually, I was thinking... this task is actually too easy, what do you say that we have a battle?"

Much to Lan's dismay, this challenge wasn't even part of their agrement... even more so as Gutsman stood right in front of the the entrance to Dex's network, looking forward to beating Megaman this time around. "You gotta be kidding me!" he exclaimed, he wasn't in the mood to battle right now as there was more important matters to attend to and every second counts. "This is just bu..."

"I'm giving you the link, but you have to beat me if you really want it!" said Dex as Lan let out a growl, gritting his teeth as now it seems that the only way to gain access to his classmate's network now is to beat him again. "Don't tell me you're turning chicken!"

"Just my luck..." he silently muttered to himself, having no choice but to accept the challenge and made contact with Megaman via his PET. "Megaman, we have another problem..." With that, he began to explain that even though Dex got the chip he wanted, he's now challenging him and Megaman to another Net-Battle and at the worse possible time as well.

"Are you that serious?!" Megaman was completely shocked by this and wasn't too happy about the sudden challenge, even Roll began crossing her arms as they needed to get to the Metroline's network right now.

"Why can't Dex and Gutsman challenge you after we've solved the problem..." she huffed, as if Gutsman's flirting with her wasn't already annoying enough but he is still a friend of theirs and they needed to speak with him about this. "We better get going, any second we waste could led to the WWW causing more damage."

Nodding his head, Megaman knew that trying to convince Dex and Gutsman to let them into the network is like trying to find a needle in a haystack which he might have no choice but to accept their challenge if only to save the Metroline and he doubt Mayl would be too pleased with this fact either and they didn't waste any time heading to meet with Gutsman either, luckily there weren't that many obstacles as the viruses that Lan and Megaman encountered previously were already dealt with along the way. "Alright Gutsman, what's going on?" he called out, as soon as he and Roll found Gutsman right near the entrance.

"Been expecting you Megaman, this time Gutsman will win!" responded Dex's partner, pounding his chest a bit and waited for his opponent and Lan to accept the challenge, that is if they aren't afraid to see how much the two had improved since the last time they went up against each other back at school... However just as the Blue Bomber was going to give his own reply, Roll stepped in with an angered expression of her own.

"Can't you see that there's a more serious matter right now?" she asked, in an attempt to reason with Gutsman and try to get it into his thick skull as well as Dex's, sure Lan is dense but at least his heart is in the right place when it comes to danger. "Mega and I really need to get into Dex's network, we don't have time to waste with your ridiculous challenge!"

"Hey, Roll, it's called a duel of honor between men!" GutsMan explained. "When two NetNavis belonging to real men want to talk, they do so without words. They comunicate with their fists!"

"You have no idea how much I'd like to comunicate all over you…" Roll murmured to herself. Then, before the hard-headed NetNavi could go on any longer with his strange ideas of duels of honor, the pink-suited NetNavi raised an arm and motioned for the two males to stay back and not fight each other. "Now, now, I think I understand what you're saying… but stll, it wouldn't do to fight amongst ourselves when we have bigger problems to think about. The Metroline has been blocked by a WWW independent Navi – at least, he seems to be independent - and his as long as they keep their position in the Net, the Metroline will never be able to start. This is going to result in millions of zenny lost during the chaos. So, please, think of what's more important now… you can always have your battle later, right?"

GutsMan and his operator found themselves at a loss for words… and in any case, having Roll ask for them to stand aside was a request GutsMan couldn't refuse even if he wanted. Therefore, sighing in defeat, the large NetNavi stepped towards MegaMan and handed him what looked like a glowing card, upon which was engraved a complex-looking binary code made of 0s and 1s. With a somewhat surprised expression on his face, MegaMan accepted the data GutsMan was living him.

"Is… is this the link for your page, GutsMan?" MegaMan asked his friend and rival, looking at him straight in the eyes.

"It is, Guts…" GutsMan answered with a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "After all, we think Roll is right, guts!"

"And there is no way I would refuse a favor to Mayl…" Dex murmured, trying to look tough and failing badly because of the slight blush on his face! "So… okay, consider it done! But after you've solved this problem, I want your word as a man that you will have a battle with us."

Lan smiled and gave Dex a thumbs-up to the large boy. "Thanks, Dex! Don't worry, we always keep our word! Right, MegaMan?"

"Of course we do! Thank you very much, GutsMan!" MegaMan answered. "Okay then… now we have to use the code to crack open the site… like this, right?"

MegaMan presed his hand against the glowing barrier separating Dex's site from the rest of the Net, and the sound of the barrier getting shut down reverberated around the place as the barrier disappeared, and a computer voice signalled that the place was now accessibile.

"MEGAMAN GAINED ACCESS TO /DEX." The voice droned, and MegaMan nodded, smiled and stepped inside, only to be followed right after by both Roll and GutsMan, who seemed to want to go with him to fight the WWW NetNavi.

"Guys?" MegaMan asked, surprised by their courage. "You don't have to come with me, you know. It might be dangerous if you don't know what you're up against!"

Lan nodded. "MegaMan is right. W are up against an enemy that won't gesitate to hurt you and your NetNavis…"

"Oh, don't give us that 'dangerous' crap, Lan Hikari!" Dex boasted, grinning fiercely. "After all, you and MegaMan are our friends, aren't you? We're tagging along. And sides… it could be good practice for our battle, right?"

"Mayl and I are coming too, MegaMan!" Roll said, living a cute wink to the bue NetNavi. "We willhelp you… if this guy is really going to be a problem to the citizens of ACDC Town, we can't just ignore that and go on our merry way!"

"Don't worry, Lan, Roll and I have some experience when it comes to NetBattles!" Mayl reassured her childhood friend. "We will not get in your way… and besides which, we can take out a few annoying viruses ourselves!"

MegaMan knew that it was pointless to try and convince Roll and GutsMan to stay away from that, so he reluctantly accepted, hoping that his friends would not get in trouble. "Fine then… you can tag along, but try not to overdo it, okay? Hopefully we will be able to take down this WWW agent no sweat…"

"Only one thing to do, step into the Net and go take him down, right?" Lan said, flashing MegaMan a proud grin. The three NetNavi all entered Dex's PC site and walked to the output por tinto the Net, following Dex's lead for following the mysterious WWW NetNavi. In a moment, the three of them were out into the Net, in a different portion than the one they were used to exploring.

"Okay, here we are. Remember, we need to be extra careful here." Roll reccomended. "You never know what kind of opponents you might end up meeting… and in fact, I'm afraid we have already run into some bad company!"

The pink female Navi pointed up, and both MegaMan and GutsMan followed her indication to see that a couple of nasty-looking viruses was descending upon them: they looked like the already-seen Fishy models, but they were a burning red all over, and they were wreathed in an aura of flames that made them dangerous to touch! Along with them, came two red Mettaur viruses and a couple of new viruses, looking like nothing more and nothing less than two gigantic toy mice with a placid expression on their faces and a glowing red bulb on their backs!

"Guys, I know those kinds of viruses!" Lan exclaimed. "And none of them are good news… those Fishy2 attack just like a regular Fishy, but they leave a trail of fire behind them that makes the terrain difficult! And those Mettaur2, well… they are more hardy and more difficult to delete than a regular Mettaur."

"And those strange mouse-like viruses are… Ratties, right?" Mayl stated, taking a good look at the light-brown colored rodent viruses which moved in short, sudden bursts of speed. "I remember them from the Virus Busting lessons… Ms. Mari told us to take care of them since they become faster as they get close to deletion…"

"Ugh… just my luck… having to deal with a bunch of rat-like viruses… I hate rats…" Roll murmured, living a disgusted face at the sight of the Ratties. One of the Fishy2 viruses was not about to wait for her to shake herself out of her disgust and, after lowering itself closet o the ground, dashed at the trio, leaving a trail of fire as it sped towards them…

"Area Steal Battle Chip in!" Lan quickly placed the Area Steal Battle Chip into his PET, so that Megaman can get Roll out of the path of the attack, which both Mayl and her Net-Navi were relieved by this as it managed to shake her out of the disgust she was now in. "You're going to regret this! Sword Battle Chip in, download!"

Megaman's right arm changed into a familar sword and he charged at the Fishy2 virus that attacked Roll earlier, slicing it in two with one swipe of his blade before it could even react. "Thanks Mega.." said the female Navi, mentally cursing not paying attention earlier but knows not to do so again. "Alright, now I'm ready!"

"Okay, Spreader Battle Chip in!" Mayl sloted in a Spreader Battle Chipand changed Roll's left hand into a blaster that fired several blue beams with a single shot, deleting many of the Ratties that were in the line of fire. Meanwhile Gutsman punched one of the Fishy2 viruses with his left fist then crushed a Ratty with both hands.

"Guts! Guts! Guts!" he said, Dex using his Guts Hammer Battle Chip so that his Navi can delete a dozen more viruses with a single strike to the Ground. "Gutsman think this is too easy, we need a bigger challenge!"

Needless to say, he would get his wish as several Sparky viruses soon entered the fray shooting balls of electricity at the group which barely managed to avoid the attack. "That's just great..." muttered Megaman, realzing that they are going to have one hell of a battle before they even get to the WWW Navi responsible for this. "We're gonna need some additional power to survive this!"

"I'm on it, Shotgun Battle Chip in!" came Lan's voice, turning Megaman's left-hand into the Mega Buster like weapon and fired multiple rounds to shoot down several of the approaching Sparky viruses and Roll joined his side as she wished to repay the Blue Bomber for the quick save from earlier, more so as a red Metool got ready to deliver a strike from behind.

"Roll Blast!" she said, blow a kiss which resulted in hearts catching the Metool in question off-guard and resulted in its deletion then she used her Spreader against a group of normal yellow Metools that had accompanied the Sparky viruses. "Damn... this isn't good."

"Alright, let's try this... WideSword Battle Chip in!" Gutsman's right arm turned into the powerful WideSword and he used it to slice n dice three Fishy2 viruses along with a dozen Metools and Sparky viruses that were in front of him. In the real world, Dex grinned as he thought of this as a warm-up for their rematch with Lan but wanted to make sure Megaman doesn't get deleted until then, especially not to any viruses from the WWW. "Look at those viruses, they just keep coming man!"

"No kidding, five different kinds, including the new version of the Metool!" added Lan, witnessing as there are additional red Metools arriving and are proving why they are much stronger than the regular yellow ones but that wasn't the least of it as explosions occured which caused screens on buildings and lights nearby to explode, shattering glass everywhere as lights inside the city began going out."Oh man, if we don't do something the entire city will be destroyed!"

"Tell me something I don't know Lan!" said Mayl while becoming concerned, more so as they were now facing tougher viruses than before as from the looks of it, the WWW really doesn't want them to reach the Navi stopping the Metroline.

Megaman silently muttered a curse as he sliced through many viruses with the sword on his hand but more continued to appear, he wasn't sure he can keep this up even though Roll and Gutsman are helping. "They're still multiplying!" he spoke, feeling the exhaustion getting to him, causing him to nearly collaspe to the ground.

"There's no getting rid of these jerks!" growled Lan, though he needed to save his best Chips for the Navi they need to deal with but at the same time, he couldn't afford to let Megaman, Roll or Gutsman get deleted in the process which is making him wonder what they needed to do.

Upon unleashing a double-slash, one slash from his sword and one from Gutsman's WideSword, resulting in more viruses meeting their end like they were nothing, four Sparky viruses managed to begin electricuting Megaman. "Stay out of this!" yelled the yellow Net-Navi with a darkened expression on his face and used the Guts Shield Battle Chip that Dex slotted into to defend his rival from the next attack. "I need to be the one to beat him, not you!"

While slowly begining to sucumb to the exhaustion, Megaman turned his attention towards his rival and friend... barely managing to speak what he needed to say "Thanks..." It was then that Roll went to the Blue Bomber's side as she was hoping that he wasn't severly hurt from the attack.

"Don't thank me yet!" reminded Gutsman, realizing he himself was starting to feel like he is about to collapse from being in battle too long. "We need to beat these guys and soon, before something else goes wrong!"

"Yeah, I know... but we can't give up now!"

* * *

><p>As this was going on, a Net-Navi hidden within the shadows behind a portal watching as Sparky viruses and Metools were deployed to assist their brother viruses against the three Net-Navis that were currently deleting them like they were nothing, though his mouth showed disgust as he recognized them as the three that ruined their WWW Re-education Program and was hoping that if the Navi that Wily put in charge of stopping the Metroline fails to defeat them, he will get his chance to avenge the previous two failure. "I've found them, it seems they're once again getting in Lord Wily's way..." he spoke with his operator.<p>

"Just as Lord Wily predicted, for not don't do anything... moniter them further until further orders" came the voice of a female, which sounded like the one who spoken with Wily previously when Lan had learned that the Metroline wasn't working yet she wasn't done. "However if one of the Net-Agents should intervene... We'll take care of them personally."

"Good, I look forward to doing so actual deleting... especially if we actually face a Net-Agent, provided we are lucky..." he replied to his operator, imagining the thought of putting holes into his opponent and laughing as they meet permanent deletion. "Any information on the next mission we are given?"

"Unfortunately, nothing as of yet but we'll know when we hear from Lord Wily..."

With that in mind, the mysterious Net-Navi scowled again as he hated having to wait, finding it rather boring unlike the mayhem and destruction that he could do for the WWW, especially when this so-called "End Game" begins and war takes place. "Sometimes I'm starting to wonder about what Wily has in store for this world..." he muttered to himself, especially as neither he or his operator heard anything more about the WWW leader's plans let alone how what they are doing in his name will bring out this ultimate scheme.

"Don't worry, he'll tell us more when actually succeed in our task" came the operator's voice, even she was curious on what more there was to Wily's plan that she wasn't informed. "I don't actually blame you for wondering about it."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the battle with the minor viruses was going on, and while MegaMan, Roll and GutsMan were seemingly at an advantage, there seemed to be no end to the number of critters attacking the heroic NetNavis on all sides. Luckily Roll was able to heal Megaman so he can continue fighting while GutsMan fired a few shots and nailed a Ratty virus, but the bigger Net-Navifailed to do enough damage to delete the mouse-like virus… and its normally placid face turned to a look of anger and hatred, as the Ratty began moving at an even greater speed than before, and the bulb on its back grew wider and began going on and off at a faster rate. Then, the Ratty fired a strange projectile that looked like a pair of glowing Mickey Mouse ears!<p>

"Hey, GutsMan, get away from that! Area Steal Battle Chip in, download!" Dex exclaimed, quickly inserting a battlechip and causing GutsMan to vanish and reappear a short distance away, seemingly away from the bomb's line of fire… and GutsMan was about to resume attacking the enemy when the strange bomb quickly turned back and esplode on his back, sending him tumbling to the ground with a grunt! "GutsMan, no!"

"What… what kind of trick is this?" Lan exclaimed, as MegaMan slashed away at a Mettaur2, deleting it, and Roll fired a Bubble-V battlechip at the offending Ratty, destroying the virus before kneeling down next to a dazed GutsMan and touching his shoulder with her hand, restoring his health.

"Remember that Virus Busting lesson in which we learned about the Ratties, Lan?" MegaMan answered as he kept several enemies at bay with his Mega Buster. "They did tell us that these viruses are rather unpredictable and their attacks are difficult to dodge. I guess his is what Ms. Mari meant by that."

"Well… I don't mind having learned that!" GutsMan stated, a slight blush coloring his rough features. "Thank you very much, Roll, now GutsMan feels great again, guts!"

The large NetNavi confirmed his words by standing up and pounding his own chest like a gorilla as he prepared to sustain another attack from the small army of viruses. He raised his fists, fused them into a huge hammer, and brought them down on the ground, sending a powerful shockwave through the floor and towards the enemy, which destroyed two Cannons and a Fishy2, while MegaMan nodded to Lan, and the young operator smiled and inserted one of his newest Battlechips!

"Good job, GutsMan and Dex!" Lan exclaimed. "Let's see what I can do now… Get ready, MegaMan! Iron Ball Battle Chip in, download!"

A large iron ball appare in MegaMan's hand, and the blue NetNavi fired it towards a tough-looking LavaHead virus that had seemingly popped out of nowhere… the virus seemed to be confident in its iron skin's ability to shrug off damage, but the IronBall battlechip bypassed its defense and struck it head-on, deleting it! For her part, Roll slashed a Spooky virus with her antennae, causing the ghost-like virus to disappear in a shower of multicolored pixels. The other viruses seemed toh esitate at first… and then, realizing they were outmatched, wisely chose to run away and let MegaMan and his friends pass through that place. With a releved sigh, the NetNavis regathered together and began walking through the area, keeping their eyes peeled in case the viruses had tried to ambush them again.

"Looks like we got through this in one piece, more or less…" Roll commented. "But… these viruses are getting more aggressive with time. It's almost as if the viruses are getting more and more daring as the influence of the WWW grows…"

"That doesn't surprise me…" Mayl answered, rubbingher forehead in worry. "With the WWW spreading its influence, the viruses feel like they can get away with more and more things, so they start attacking more directly. We need to be careful if we walk into the inner secions of the net. I shudder to think what kind of monstrous viruses one might find there…"

"No problem for a real man!" Dex exclaimed, flexing his bicep. "GutsMan and I will take care of them no problem, ain't that right, pal?"

"Guts! No virus can get past us!" the huge NetNavi grunted. MegaMan chuckled to himself, but then stood ready once again, believing that the section of the Net in which they were travelling had gotten too quiet all of a sudden. It seemed that all activity had frozen, almost as if the programs were afraid of something… or someone.

"Okay, guys… I think this is where the WWW is holding up the blockade…" MegaMan stated as the trio stepped upon a platform, taking a good look around… and soon enough, MegaMan felt something about to arrive… and doge just in time to avoid a huge rock falling from above and crashing on the place where he had been standing a second before! The rock split in two, scattering fragments alla round the place, and other rocks appare in the air above and began falling around MegaMan, Roll and GutsMan!

"Oh, no! Everyone, dodge them!" Mayl exclaimed in alarm. Roll quickly dashed away, getting away from under the falling stones, while the less agile GutsMan glanced up and punched two of the falling rocks as soon as they were within range, breaking them into hundreds of pieces!

"MegaMan! Everyone, are you ok?" Lan asked in alarm as soon as the rockslide was over. When MegaMan and the others glanced up at their operators, and gave them a thumbs-up, Lan took a sigh of relief, and nodded at his Navi. "This must be the WWW NetNavi we are looking for! How about you show your face to us, you scoundrel? Or are you too much of a chicken to face us directly?"

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAA! NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, I'M RIGHT HERE!" a powerful voice roared as the enemy NetNavi made its appearence. It was truly huge, far bigger than even GutsMan, and it had a cubelike body made of stone, light green with a red line on top, a strange head with black eyes and yellow pupils, a pair of arms that looked like heavy weights with wide brick-like feet, and in fact, it looked like nothing more than a large, living block of concrete. It Navi symbol, a white cube on black background, was drawn on his left side. "YOU HAVE COME AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, I WAS JUST GETTING BORED STAYING HERE WITH OTHING TO DO!"

"What do you think you're doing?" MegaMan exclaimed, pointing his Mega Buster at the huge NetNavi, with Roll and GutsMan going into a fight pose as well.

"I AM STONEMAN, OF THE WWW! MY MISSION IS TO BLOCK THE METROLINE SECURITY PROGRAM, SO THE METROLINE WON'T OPEN!" the huge NetNavi thundered.

"Is that so?" Roll asked threateningly. "And why would you do such a thing? Do you have any idea of how many problems you're causing?"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS! US OF THE WWW WANT TO CONTROL THE NET, AND THIS IS WHY I'M HERE!" StomeMan answered. "AND IF YOU TRY TO INTERFERE WITH US, STONEMAN WILL DELETE YOU!"

"Get ready! You are the one who's going to be deleted!" GutsMan roared.

"Lan! We're taking out this guy!" MegaMan exclaimed, to which the young NetBattler nodded and prepared his deck.

"Alright, MegaMan! Battle routine, set…"

"Execute!"

"YOU FOOLS! DON'T TAKE ME LIGHTLY!" laughed Stoneman, more so as Gutsman threwpunches at the stone-made Navi but failed to do any damage before begin swatted away back to where Megaman and Roll stood... To the WWW Navi, Gutsman was nothing more than an annoying gnat compared to what he is capable of. "IS THAT THE BEST YOU WEAKLINGS CAN DO?"

"No it isn't, try my Mega Buster!"

"How about a Roll Blast as well!"

Both attacks made contact, however much to their shock... Stoneman was still standing without a single scratch on him. "What the?!" exclaimed Mayl, even a combined attack wasn't enough to do any kind of damage to this guy and he was preparing to make his move now.

"I AM NOT LIKE FIREMAN OR NUMBERMAN AND NOW YOU WILL SEE WHY! ROCK CUBE!" Giant stone cubes formed from above the group.

"Barrier Battle Chip In!" Lan managed to slot in his Barrier Battle Chip so the attack wouldn't harm Megaman, Roll or Gutsman, though the tremor proved to be more than capable of nearly knocking the three off their feet with Roll falling onto Megaman. "What kind of Navi are we dealing with here?"

"I'm not sure, but wait till he gets a load of this... Guts Punch Battle Chip In, download!" Dex slots in his Guts Punch Chip, which increased the size of Gutsman's right fist and with a roar, sent a powerful punch that was strong enough to destroy one of the Rock Cube. "Alright, now let's get him! Guts Hammer Battle Chip In!"

"Guts, Guts, Guts!" With both his hands now in hammer form, Gutsman slammed them onto the ground to create a tremor right where Stoneman stood, wanting to prove he isn't some regular Net-Navi that can be easily beaten... even against someone from the WWW. However, as the attack made contact... once again nothing happened. "Huh?!"

"THAT ACTUALLY TICKLES!"

Lan started grinding his teeth as nothing seems to be hurting this guy and is now wondering if he even has an operator at all, knowing they need to do something quick. "We better try a different strategy, Shot Gun Battle Chip In!" he placed his Shot Gun Chip into his PET and Mayl got her Spreader Battle Chip ready.

"Spreader Battle Chip In!" she said, both their Navis raised their weapons and prepared to fire as Gutsman joined with them upon Dex activating his Cannon Battle Chip, all three taking aim at Stoneman, finding it rather amusing that they are still willing to fight him despite the odds being against them, then fired causing an explosion. "I think we got him! Wait a minute..." The smoked slowly cleared and much to their dismay, he was still there. "We didn't get him!"

"TIME FOR MY FAVORITE GAME... SQUASHING THE BUG!" said Stoneman, getting ready to crush Megaman with his Mallet, fortunately the Blue Bomber rolled to the left to avoid being hit.A Roll Arrow came out of nowhere hit Stoneman's left eye. "YOU!"

"Roll, what are you doing... get out of there!" yelled Megaman, seeing Roll was the one who launched the attack and this caused Stoneman to target her, more so launching right foot at the pink Navi, who had no time to react as she was hit. "Roll no!"

"Gutsman coming Roll!" Gutsman tried to get to her, however Stoneman sent Rock Cubes to stop him in his tracks and laughed at this pittiful attempt, making Dex bite his lower lip as there seems to be no way to defeat this opponent.

"YOU ACTUALLY MANAGED TO TAKE OUT MY LEFT EYE WITH THAT ATTACK OF YOURS... FOR THAT I'M RATHER IMPRESSED, HOWEVER I HAVE MY ORDERS AND I INTEND TO CARRY THEM OUT!" began Stoneman, raising his Mallet once more and is about ready to delete Roll with it. "NOW IT'S FOR YOUR DELETION!"

"Area Steal and Sword Battle Chips In!" Megaman suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and sliced the Mallet right off of Stoneman with the Sword on his right arm before it could even reach Roll, with the hateful expression on his face, the blue Net-Navi wasn't too happy about what Stoneman tried to do. "You're not done yet with us you stone-faced creep!"

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHEN TO GIVE UP DO YOU... IT SEEMS THAT I WILL HAVE TO TEACH YOU THE HARD WAY!" Stoneman approached Megaman once again, starting to see why Mr. Match and Higsby lost to this Navi and his operator, but even he doesn't know what he is up against this time. "ROCK CUBES!"

"WideSword Battle Chip In!" Lan slotted the WideSword Battle Chip, changing Megaman's left Arm into the powerful WideSword, dodging the first two cubes and then slicing the third in half with both blades. However, Stoneman had something else in store and one that would easily delete all three opponents at once.

"Are you okay Roll?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... thanks Mega..." Roll had bit of shaky start but was able to get back onto her feetjust as Gutsman finally caught up with the two and saw that her attack did manage to leave a minor injury to their opponent, yet it didn't seem to be enough to stop him as even with one eye, he is still going strong against them. "I can't believe it, we gave it everything we've got but we're still not able to beat him?"

"Tell me about it, however he has to have some kind of weakness" Megaman responded back, still having both the Sword and WideSword armed just in case something else were to happen, then he realized something. "Wait a minute, you and Gutsman saw that he was able to call forth those Rock Cubes without any kind of Battle Chip needed to do so right?"

"We did... but what does that mean?" asked Roll, even Gutsman had no idea what his rival and friend was talking about, then again with how powerful the WWW Navi in question was, they wondered if he was being controlled by another human at all. "You don't suppose that he..."

"I'm not certain yet, but it makes sense by the way he was able to easily shrug off our attacks like they were nothing..." answered Megaman, giving a small scowl while wishing he was just joking around though now wasn't the time for that. "If that's the case, we'll need to come up with a bigger plan to survive this."

Roll and Gutsman nodded, it looks as if this will be a fight not only to save the Metroline but also a fight for their survial as well. Stoneman on the otherhand remain silent, believing that the three smaller Navis were stalling to delay the outcome of this battle and Wily watched from the screen at his Headquarters, enjoying how outmatched those Net-Navis were when compared to his own warrior.

"So... those are those silly Net-Navis who tried to throw some mud in my plans, huh?" Dr. Wily mrmured evilly to himself, glaring at the three young heroes. "And one of them is... the Net-Navi belonging to that Lan Hikari kid. Heh... the past does come back to haunt me! Hehehee... even now, that accursed Tadashi Hikari is ruining my plans. Well, no matter. This time, nothing will stop me! Thanks to WWW, I will destroy the Net, and plunge the world into chaos! They will regret looking down upon my genius and mocking me!"

In the Net, the battle with StoneMan was quickly getting ugly. The gigantic stone Navi was far stronger than the three of them, and their attacks seemed to be useless against StoneMan's incredibly thick hide. Roll managed to quickly dash backwards to avoid a barrage of rocks that StoneMan was dropping from above. GutsMan had taken quite a beating from his opponent's stony fists, while MegaMan's Buster shots bounced off the mighty NetNavis body. It seemed like none of their chips could really do damage on the colossus, and the three of them were beginning to get desperate.

"Lan, we're in trouble!" MegaMan exclaimed, as he saw a MegaCannon battlechip dissipating upon hitting his opponent. "This guy is too tough for us to handle. We're going to lose the battle on attrition alone."

"We cannot give up! GutsMan never leaves a fight, guts!" GutsMan exclaimed, as Dex sent him an Hammer battlechip, and he struck StoneMan with a gigantic hammer that had appeared in his hands out of seemingly nowhere. The blow actually had some effect, knocking back StoneMan with a pained grunt, but StoneMan was able to recover quickly and hit GutsMan with one of his mighty fists. GutsMan tumbled on the ground, and StoneMan quickly advances on him to finish him off, but he was stopped when Roll tossed a fusillade of pink heart-shaped projectiles at him!

"Roll Flash!" Roll exclaimed. The pink heart hit StoneMan and staggered him for a moment, but it was hardly enough to put him down for more than a few seconds. Lan inserted a Shockwave battlechip, and MegaMan fired a powerful shockwave towards the opponent, like a Mettaur... but once again, even if the projectile hit, it barely even flinched the mighty NetNavi, who laughed and dropped another handful of rocks on the floor, The NetNavis were all hit and tossed on the floor in disarray, but they still managed to hold on.

"Guys, we need to think of something here!" Mayl exclaimed in worry. "This NetNavi is something else entirely from what we faced before! We need to retreat and think of a new strategy if we are to defeat him!"

"Darn... I'm afraid this is the case, Lan! This guy is too tough right now!" MegaMan answered, rubbing his head as he stood up again.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAA! DO YOU GET IT NOW?" StoneMan roared. "YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST MY MIGHT! GIVE IT UP WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"Damn..." Lan murmured to himself. He was loath to leave a battle, and he didn't want to retreat without having tried everything he could to defeat StoneMan... but still, it was plain to him that there was no battlechip he had that could actually harm the stony NetNavi. Unless... he took a quick look at his chips, and his eyes fell upon the three Sword-type battlechips he had in his deck. There was a Sword chip... a WideSword chip... and the LongSword chip he had received from his dad before he and his friends took on Higsby, and which he had placed in his deck thinking he wasn't really going to need it. However, he now had a feeling this Battlechip could actually turn things around... "Huh? What a moment, MegaMan... do... do you remember the Virus busting lesson we had on Program Advances?"

"You mean, the attacks you can use by combining three or more Battlechips in a single attack?" MegaMan answered, rolling to the side in order to avoid a falling rock. "Well... yes, of course! Ms. Mari said that three Sword-type battlechips put together could create a powerful move!"

"Alright then... we can try that! Hopefully, it will be enough to take out StoneMan!" Lan said. "Mayl, Dex... can I ask you to cover me and MegaMan? We're going to try a Program Advance on this guy!"

"A Program Advance? Okay, we can try! But please, be quick! We can't hold his off for long!" Dex answered. "Go, GutsMan! Use you Guts Hammer on that guy!"

"Try and hold on, Roll! Barrier Battlechip, download!" Mayl exclaimed, inserting a battlechip that created a forcefield around her NetNavi, who smiled, nodded in gratitude, and fired another Roll Flash towards StoneMan, forcing the huge NetNavi to halt his advance for a moment. Lan and MegaMan thanked their friends with a nod, and as GutsMan fired a powerful shockwave at the enemy. Once again, StoneMan seemed to be able to shrug off all punishment, but he was forced to step backwards, and both Lan and MegaMan were able to gain some time to insert the three Sword type battlechips, one after the other.

"Okay, here goes nothing! Sword Battle Chip in!" Lan exclaimed, and MegaMan's left arm turned into a glowing sword. "And now... WideSword Battle Chip in, download! And... LongSword Battle Chip in, download!"

In a second, MegaMan's other arm turned into a sword with a wider blade... and as soon as the third battlechip went into his PET, MegaMan's arms began glowing in light and fused together in a large blade of pure energy, that spread an aura of light all around!

"PROGRAM ADVANCE!" MegaMan exclaimed, feeling a power he had never felt before coursing through his body. "LIFE SWORD!"

"WHAT IS THIS?!" asked Stoneman in complete shock as many viruses that were within the area were instantly deleted by the bright blue light that coursed from within the newly formed Life Sword.

"That power..." began Mayl in awe, even Roll, Dex and Gutsman had no idea on what Lan managed to achieve but it seems that the expression Stoneman had meant that they now had a chance to win. "What kind of power did Lan tap into?"

"I have no idea but I wish I was the one who unlocked it!" answered Dex, shocked as Megaman was getting ready to use the newly formed weapon against the giant Net-Navi. "Finish him off Lan!"

"I'm on it!" Lan nodded to the bigger Net-Op then turned his attention towards his PET, this was now or never. "Megaman, do it!"

With one swing of the LifeSword, a powerful blue slash formed and quickly made its way towards Stoneman faster than the WWW Navi could react. Upon being... He started to fall to pieces much to Wily's shock and anger. "This is not possible!" He exclaimed from within his headquarters.

"Alright we got him!"

"We did it!" smiled Mayl, relieved that they managed to take down the enemy Net-Navi so now the only thing left to do was to destroy the boulder that was blocking the Metroline's Network and the subway can work properly again.

However, their celebration came to a swift stop as Roll had a frown on her face and quickly alerted the others. "Something's wrong, the battle's not over!" she warned as a strange sphere began to form from around Stoneman's remain. "What is that?"

* * *

><p>"Well, well, it seems while they were able to defeat Stoneman... They failed to delete his Regeno-Sphere..." grinned Wily, somewhat relieved that the Program Advance that managed to take his Solo Net-Navi down wasn't enough to delete him for good. "Now watch as it restores Stoneman to his former glory!"<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh no!" exclaimed Megaman, shocked to see that the Program Advance they used hadn't deleted Stoneman or at least cause him to log out and to their dismay, he was starting to shape himself back together and realized something. "We gotta delete the Sphere that just appeared fast!"<p>

Megaman got his Mega Buster ready while Roll formed a Roll Arrow and Gutsman's left fist extended as they don't have much time before Stoneman is whole once more, unfortunately the hidden Net-Navi spying on them refused to see their plans ruined a second time and decided to step in, firing needle like projectiles at the three before they had time to react. "What the?!" exclaimed Lan in shock, as he, Mayl and Dex wondered where those projectiles came from as the attack made itself know.

"They're fine, thank god..." began Mayl but the fact remains is that they were so close to having saved the Metroline's network made her rather mad, as well as the fact that their respective Net-Navis were feeling exhausted from the constant battles they had faced prior. "Just what's going on here?"

"I don't know but I have a feeling that Stoneman might not be alone..." answered Lan, mentally cursing at the sudden turn of events, not the good kind of turn since they now had another enemy Net-Navi to fight now and if they don't hurry, there will be two. "Megaman, be ready for anything!"

As the three Navis got up, they saw a shadowed image and from the way it looked, they could tell that it wasn't a virus... More so as the attack that hit them looked as if they could have been impaled had they not attempted to get out of the way. Yet, there was an evil laugh as the smoke slowly began to clear up.

"Looks like my Needle Cannon is still a good shot as always..." came a male voice as a grin formed on his face while it wasn't shown to his foes, at least at first.

"Who are you?" asked Megaman, while he, Roll and Gutsman were not too banged up from the sudden surprise attack, none of them were happy that they now had another problem to deal with.

The enemy NetNavi stepped out of the shadows, allowing everyone to get a good look at him: he was a tall Navi wearing a deep blue armor over a black bodysuit, with several spikes, each about the length of a grown man's arm, jutting Out of his chest, back and shoulders. His head was nothing but another spike, adorned with a grinning, evil-looking face, and his arms and legs were long and encased in blue and azure armor, with four Black fingers on each hand. His Navi symbol was a white spike on a black background... And alongside him was another NetNavi, this one more bulky and stronger looking: he was wearing an heavy-looking red and orange armor with yellow rings around his wrists and knees, and his red helmet, complete with a mouth piece, sported what looked like a yellow mohawk on top of his head. His Navi symbol was placed on the left side of his chest, and looked like a gout of stylized red and yellow flames. His shoulder pads were round, and it seemed that they had a bomb inside each of them.

"And just who R U?" The second NetNavi asked, talking in Internet slang. "We R not here 4 U! Piss Off!"

The spiky NetNavi raised a hand, telling his comrade to be silent. "BombMan, don't be so unkind to them... After all, they did give it all their own to get here, and they did an impressive job deleting those viruses too. Not to mention, I am pretty intrigued by the fact that the blue one has mastered a Program Advance so easily. Let them enjoy their victory some more. Because I don't think they will be able to do it for much longer, if our Plans succeed! Hehehee..." He said in a low voice, glaring in amusement at the group of Navis in front of them.

"What? What are you talking about? And who are you, anyway?" MegaMan exclaimed, pointing his Mega Buster at the new opponents. Roll and GutsMan tensed up as well, ready to fight if the newcomers tried anything funny... Which luckily they didn't.

"My name is NeedleMan, and I am a NetNavi belonging to the WWW. Pleased to meet the one who has caused us so many headaches!" The spiky NetNavi said, in a falsely pleasant tone. "But for now, we are not here to pick a fight with you. We'll just recover StoneMan and be on our way, since what we were looking for wasn't here anyway. Enjoy your precious MetroLine... And know that right now, you are at the top of the WWW's black List, Lan Hikari and MegaMan! BombMan!"

"LOLz! C U later!" The bomber Navi exclaimed, tossing a bomb between himself and MegaMan's group as NeedleMan recovered StoneMan's core. The bomb exploded in a large Puff of smoke that blinded MegaMan and his friends for a few moments... And when it disappeared, the two WWW Navis were gone as well, along with StoneMan's core.

"They're gone!" muttered the blue bomber, wondering what they were up against as there was no sign of either Stoneman, Needleman or Bombman anywhere... A sign that they must have logged out from the area. "Just what are we dealing with here?"

"Nevermind that, we need to get that security program running!" came Lan's voice, as that seemed to be the only option that have at least for the time being and the group made their way towards the boulder itself, preparing to attack when a familiar wood-made Net-Navi appeared before them.

"Perhaps we could be of some assistance!"

"Woodman!" began Megaman, he immediately recognize him as the navi that the woman named Sal used to help save the school from Higsby's reeducation program not too long back and with one swift Wood Tower attack, the boulder in front of them was completely destroyed. "No way..."

Lan and his friends were pretty shocked to see how strong Woodman is, especially as while they knew he was powerful, this was the first time they are seeing how strong he really is and more so as at least he and his operator were ally rather than enemy. "That should do it, the Metroline's systems should be working properly again!" said Woodman, then turned his attention towards the three Navis behind him. "Seems you already dealt with the WWW Navi responsible huh?"

"Yeah and it was hard, he nearly deleted us in the fight had it not been for Lan and Mega tapping into a Program Advance" explained Roll, still thinking about the power Megaman used to defeat Stoneman earlier which still shocked her and Gutsman to see it first-hand. "Still, Stoneman was powerful enough to use attacks without the need for an operator as it turns out."

"This is not good News... It means that the WWW is really stepping up its game." WoodMan answered, rubbing the back of his head. "We need to be more vigilant if we hope to stop them... Were there any more NetNavis with this StoneMan guy?"

"Actually, yes, there were... And boy, am I glad we didn't have to fight them as well!" MegaMan answered. "They were called BombMan and NeedleMan, and they said that we would soon meet them again. I certainly aren't looking forward to that, this is for sure!"

WoodMan nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I can imagine that..." He stated. "Well, I need to be off right now. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Gladly! See you soon, WoodMan!" MegaMan answered, smiling and waving at the massive wooden Navi as he disappeared into a shower of shining pixels. Roll and GutsMan waved as well, and soon, that whole section of the ACDC Net was safe and quiet once again.

"Oooh, boy... Now that was One Heck of a battle! I'm kinda exhausted, to be honest... But at least it all ended up alright, for now at least." Roll answered. "So... I guess we have nothing more to do here, and we can safely Log Out."

"About that, Roll... I think the guys here have something to finish before they can call it a day!"

MegaMan answered, Casting a knowing smile to his operator. "Am I right on the Money, Lan?"

"Hehehe... Damn straight, MegaMan! We have promised to Dex and GutsMan that we would have a battle with them... And as Dex would put it, a Real man is true to his word!"

"Cool!" Dex answered with a slight grin, as both he and GutsMan cracked their knuckles. "So, Lan Hikari, you still up to it?"

"If you turn chicken, you can back out now, Guts!" GutsMan answered. "You know how Dex and I are the strongest, guts!"

MegaMan chuckled at that. "We will Accept your challenge anytime!" He answered. "I was just thinking it would be better if we faced each other in your own PC, so we won't disturb the Metroline workers!"

"Works for me!" Dex answered. "Then, let's go there!"

As Lan and Dex, as well as their respective Navis, looked at each other in defiance, Roll and Mayl both sighed in mock Irritation. "Oh well, Roll, what do they say about it..." Mayl began.

Roll smiled and shrugged. "I know, Mayl. Boys will be boys."

* * *

><p>At the WWW Headquarters, the woman was very disappointed at this sudden failure since Wily was close to actually deleting the three pests that intervened with the entire operation then she turned to her PET as her Net-Navi Needleman was irritated himself. "It seems that we haven't expected something like this to occur..." she said with a small scowl on her face. "Who would have thought that they would be capable of performing a Program Advance to ruin our plans."<p>

"Who knows, but next time I will be the one who takes those three down... Especially that blue Navi who defeated Stoneman!" answered Needleman, wishing to be the one to delete Megaman personally. "I'd like to see how strong he is in an actual battle!"

"Don't worry, our chance will come soon enough."

It was then that Bombman appeared before Needleman, he too was not so pleased with what had happened since the Metroline's system was working properly once more. "Lord Wily wishes t at once!" He spoke in his Internet Slang, something that Needleman at times found annoying.

"What does he wish to discuss with us about?" asked the woman, rather curious if it is another mission for her involving what he had planned, even she was unaware of this ultimate conquest he had in mind at the moment.

"U will find out, just go there and make sure U pay attention!" explained the solo-Net Navi in question, while he and Stoneman were powerful when they were alone, they are even stronger when they fight together against their enemies. "Stoneman should be fully-restored thanks 2 the Regenosphere inside his body that saved him from complete deletion!"

"Yes, it is a real blessing indeed..." added Needleman, yet he felt kinda jealous that Stoneman seemed to be the only Net-Navi to have such a powerful item that keeps him from being deleted by his foes. "Then again, it is a pity that he was somehow defeated but at the same time I am glad it happened as it gives me the chance to face those three soon enough!"

The woman remained silent and glanced at the two Navis on the network, though there was something she owed to Wily ever since she was younger, she was sure that this has to be important if she and Needleman were the ones he trusted the most... Besides his right-hand man Yahoot of course. "Inform Lord Wily that we will meet with him shortly." she said, after a few minutes of silence.

"Very well, but do not take 2 long either!" he responded, he was rather impatient at times and like with Needleman, he wants to be sure that the three opposing Net-Navis never get in their way again even if their operators were not official Net-Battlers while curious to see what is making them fight the WWW to begin with.

"Whatever! You have no right to boss me around, only my operator can do that!" scowled Needleman, not liking Bombman's attitude and mentally wishing he could shut that guy up with his Needle Cannon. "Crap... Sometimes certain Navis tend to piss me off!"

"What did U say?!" exclaimed Bombman, not happy with Needleman's comment as both WWW Navis glared at each other for nearly several seconds before the woman interrupted since this would get them nowhere at all.

"Enough, both of you!"

The two didn't say a word , surely they didn't like the fact that they were near each other to begin with but they are on the same side so they needed to accomplish their next mission for their leader no matter what... Even if it means to delete any opposing Navis that get in their way and innocent lives are endangered in the process. "Consider yourself lucky, the lady stopped me from putting hopes into you..." Needleman decided to speak at last.

"Bastard!" growled Bombman, but chose against attacking as he wouldn't want to cause any damage to the base in this scuffle... That would make Wily even angrier than he was currently with Stoneman's failure.

* * *

><p>"Well then, Lan And MegaMan... Are you two ready to lose?" Dex asked cockily, as GutsMan stood on the opposing side of the battlefield, banging his massive fists together in preparation for the battle. "Cuz we are stronger And we have learned a few new tricks while you two were getting all the glory! Hehehee..."<p>

"GutsMan is ready, guts guts!" The massive NetNavi grunted. MegaMan looked at Lan for confirmation, and Lan gave him a smile and a thumbs-up, while Roll sat on the sidelines, acting as a referee for the two of them.

"Don't worry, Dex, we are more than ready for you! Let's get to it!" Lan answered. "Okay, MegaMan, do you best!"

The Blue Bomber returned the smile. "Isn't that what I always do, Lan? Anyway, of course! I'm ready to start!"

"Cool! Then, I guess we don't Need to say anything more!" Lan concluded. "Battle routine, Set..."

"Execute!" MegaMan concluded, starting the battle.

With a warlike yell, GutsMan dashed forward to hit MegaMan with a powerful right hook, his fist hissing through the Air mere inches away from MegaMan's head. Luckily, the smaller NetNavi had dodged in time, and was now able to sneak through GutsMan's defences and Counter him.

"Nice Start, MegaMan! And now... Sword Battle Chip in, Download!" Lan exclaimed.

MegaMan's right arm turned into a laser sword, and the Blue Bomber slashed GutsMan in the chest, causing him to stagger backwards, and giving MegaMan ample time to fire a few shots from his Mega Buster. However, GutsMan was able to dodge, and countered by smashing both his fists on the floor, causing a massive shockwave that Travelled through the ground and struck MegaMan head on! MegaMan Fell to the ground, but he managed to climb to his feet without any problem, and stood ready to face his friend and rival once again.

"Hehehee... You didn't think it was enough to keep away from GutsMan in order to be safe, did ya?" Dex smirked. "Say hello to my newest Battlechip! Hammer Battle Chip in, Download!"

"I'm gonna wreck it!" GutsMan exclaimed, as a huge hammer appeared in his hands, and he swung it against MegaMan with all of his might. MegaMan was able to dodge it just in time, causing the blunt weapon to smash the floor he was standing on into splinters, then he stepped back in an attempt to think of something to Counter the Hammer Battlechip...

However, Dex and Gutsman predicted this as the Larger Net-Navi jumped up then punched Megaman in the face with his powerful fist. "Gutsman the best!" he roared, pounding on his chest while Megaman managed to get back up and is glad not to be too banged up from the attack since unlike the WWW Navis, Gutsman had no intentions of deleting him outright nor did Dex. "Don't tell me this is the best you can do!"

"Seems you guys improved since the last time we Net-Battled" commented Lan, while it was true that the two were doing better than before, the brown-haired young man knew that it wasn't worth using the Program Advance against his opponent... Unless he sees a need to do so, for now he should show Dex what a true team is like. "To be honest, I am actually rather impressed."

"Well you should be!" grinned Dex, he liked the compliment but he wasn't here for simple chatter, he wanted this rematch so he can win. "A shame that flattery will not get you anywhere as it's about time Gutsman and I came out on top this time!"

Remaining silent, Mayl and Roll shook their heads as the boys were competitive when it comes to Net-Battles especially Lan, if only he was able to concentrate this hard on his school work... then again, she and Lan were childhood friends ever since the day they met at a park but at other times she does show some genuine concern whenever he does something reckless in dangerous situations.

"Alright, if that's how you want it? ElecSword Battle Chip in!" said Lan, using the newest Battle Chip that he got from his father not too long prior to the whole mess at the Metroline, figuring now would be a good time to use it in actual battle. "Let's give these guys a shocking surprise!"

Megaman's arm changed into an electrified sword and used his speed to perform a powerful slash, which Gutsman tried his best to dodge but his right arm was cut while also experiencing the shock from the electricity that came from the blade itself. Luckily, the arm was still on just had a slash mark on it. "Fuck!" cursed Gutsman, seeing that Lan had a new Battle Chip as well not just Dex. "Gutsman didn't know Lan and Megaman got a better Chip!"

"Me neither, seems they still have a few tricks up their sleeve" added Dex, though he decided he wanted to try out something... Something he had seen Lan and Megaman use against Stoneman earlier. "No matter, I have a few surprises as well if you are up to it!"

"Gutsman ready whenever you are!" replied the yellow Net-Navi, his operator getting he three Battle Chips needed in order to make their plan work for an easy win.

"Let's do this, get ready Lan as you are about to get a taste of your own medicine... Program Advance style!" yelled Dex, slotting in the first of the three Battle Chips that were in his hand as their secret weapon. "Sword Battle Chip in!" Gutsman's right arm turned into a sword but Dex wasn't finished just yet. "WideSword Battle Chip in!"

"Are Dex and Gutsman doing what I think they are?" wondered Megaman, frowning at the fact that Dex was attempting to perform a Program Advance like how Lan did it with Megaman but they only used it cause they had no other options.

"Now LongSword Battle Chip In... Download now!" Dex slotted the LongSword Battle Chip into his PET and Gutsman began to glow with a bright light blue aura as the two swords glowed the same close while merging together into a dark purple version of the LifeSword much to the shock of Lan and Megaman. "Alright do it Gutsman!"

"Guts... GUTS!" said Gutsman, swinging the sword hard and a powerful shockwave-like slash began approaching Megaman at top speed... However, something happened as the Sword dissipated and the attack that came from the weapon began shrinking until it was so small it didn't give the Blue Bomber any damage at all. "What the?!"

"GutsMan! What... what the heck just happened to the Life Sword Program Advance?" Dex exclaimed in shock. "And... and here I thought I had this in the bag!"

"Well, looks like GutsMan didn't really know how to control it." MegaMan answered, feeling a little relieved that he didn't have to deal with that powerful attack. "Okay, Lan, I think this is the right moment to press our attack!"

"Of course, MegaMan!" Lan answered. " Mini-Bomb Battle Chip in... Download!"

Lan sent a new Battle Chip to MegaMan, and the blue NetNavi grabbed a sphere-shaped bomb that had appeared in his hand right then, and tossed it at his opponent. GutsMan, still rather shocked at the fact that he couldn't use the LifeSword, managed to react just in time, and Dex sent him an Area Steal Battle Chip that allowed the large Net-Navi to teleport away from his position and reappear close by... but Lan and MegaMan seemed to have predicted their move, as the smaller Net-Navi dashed towards him, another Battle Chip ready for use.

" WideSword Battle Chip in... Download!" Lan exclaimed. MegaMan's right arm transformed into a glowing laser blade, and he slashed at GutsMan, getting through his defense and dealing a considerable amount of damage, while at the same time forcing the larger Net-Navi to back away slightly. "Hehehee... what's up, Dex? I thought you and GutsMan would have put up a little more of a fight than this!"

Dex grinned himself. "Well, don't count us out yet, Lan Hikari! We still have a few tricks up our sleeves!" he exclaimed, sending a new Battle Chip to Gutsman. "Alright, GutsMan, go for it! SoniWave Battle Chip in, Download!"

GutsMan grinned and slammed his fist on the ground, sending a powerful shockwave at MegaMan, who sidestepped in order to avoid it. However, this left MegaMan wide open for another attack - GutsMan raised both his hands up in the air and slammed them on the ground with all of his might, causing a wide area of the pavement to crck under the terrifying force of the blow! The Blue Bomber yelped in surprise as he tripped over the uneven ground and was left helpless for a moment, which the larger Net-Navi was ready to exploit!

"Alright, guts! Here we go! Guts Machine Gun!" the larger Navi exclaimed, firing a volley of shots from his left arm, which had suddenly turned into some sort of machine gun. MegaMan, caught off guard by that unexpected move, could not guard against it, and was hit several times and thrown to the ground. He rolled backwards and stood up again, then jumped backwards as Lan prepared another Battlechip.

"Okay, MegaMan, time to step up our game! Repair Battle Chip in, Download!" Lan exclaimed, inserting a new Battle Chip. In a flash, the cracked floor went back to normal, as if nothing had happened, and MegaMan charged up a Mega Buster attack, firing a large laser bullet at his opponent. GutsMan managed to raise his guard and had the hit bounce off of him, but he was unprepared for what the blue Net-Navi did right after that: MegaMan dashed in, and Lan sent yet another battle chip at him. "Alright, that will work! And now... Hurricane Battle Chip in, Download!"

MegaMan smiled as his arm turned into a windmill of sorts and shot out a powerful vortex at GutsMan, hitting him several times with a strong current, and finally managing to knock him down! His body turned into pixels as he was recalled into his PET, and formed the word LOGOUT, which floated in the air for a moment before fading away as well.

_"GUTSMAN LOGGING OUT"_

"Awww, nuts!" Dex murmured. "Well, well, I guess we still gotta train more, huh? You really are a tough one, Lan..."

"Hey, you're not bad yourself, Dex, so don't be too down." Lan cheered up his best friend and rival. "I mean, you did manage to push me and MegaMan really hard. We will have to keep training if we want to be the stronger duo!"

"Yeah, I guess I did huh? You've got talent Lan!" smirked Dex, then handed the Recover50 Battle Chip back to Lan which somewhat surprised the Blue Bomber's operator at first. "I think you'll need this, besides it will help you better than it would me."

"Gee, thanks Dex… I guess I owe you one" said Lan, gratefully accepting the Battle Chip while at the same time remembering that his father had something for him to pick up at Sci-Labs so it would be the perfect chance to go see him now that they managed to get the Metroline fully-operational again. "Oh yeah, dad has a Power-Up Program in his office that Megaman and I need to pick up right now."

Before he could go anywhere Mayl stopped him, noticing there was something on his right cheek ever since the battle between him and Lan ended. "Wait, your cheek is bleeding…" she told him, while he hadn't realized it at first but he felt the right cheek and was shocked that there was a small amount of blood coming from the cut…. Making him realize that it must have happened when they were going up against the viruses and Stoneman before. "Hold on, let me treat it."

"Mayl I…" he wanted to say something but she hushed him, getting a small bandage from her pocket and managed to place it carefully onto the wound but not before cleaning it a bit so it wouldn't get any kind of infection, luckily it was just a minor injury. "Thanks."

"Wait, there something else that I should do before we head to the Metroline" said Mayl, giving her childhood friend a small kiss to the bandaged cheek as her way of helping it to get better quickly, which caused Lan to flush at this while Dex didn't look too happy about what he saw. "Alright, we better get going, don't want to be late."

"Uh… sure thing…" Lan was at a loss of words, thinking it had to be some kind of dream… but no, he was very much awake and it was real, especially Mayl holding onto his hand with a small laugh as she led him down the stairs, Dex felt somewhat jealous at this scene but decided to follow since the two are his friends after all plus he was even wondering just how strong that Net-Navi Woodman was since he could destroy the boulder in the cyber world with one single Wood Tower attack.

_We got to learn how to use the Program Advance properly… If Lan was able to do it easily then we should find out their secret._ He thought to himself, also recalling how strong Stoneman and those two other WWW Navis Bombman and Needleman were so that was a sign that there may be other powerful opponents from that organization that they may have to take on and it means they'll have to become stronger if they need to beat them.

* * *

><p>As the group exited Dex's house for the Metroline, Sal watched from her pink van as she knew the systems should be returning to normal but the fact remains that Lan was able to tap into the power of a Program Advance in the conflict against Stoneman made her curious about him and about his Net-Navi Megaman. Even his friends Mayl and Dex showed they aren't weak after learning of what Roll and Gutsman can do first-hand alongside the Blue-Bomber. "It seems that what Commander Beef said is true…" she spoke, apparently to no one though she has a shop right near the Government Complex , only unlike the flower shop she has in ACDC Town, it was more of a lunch stand. "Looks like we'll have to test Lan and his friends when they arrive."

Within her PET, Woodman understood where Sal was getting at but he was at the same time wondered about if this was such a good idea. "Are you sure about this Sal?" he asked, catching her attention and the frown on his face showed that he needed to know for sure. "Are you going to test them as Black Rose or as yourself?"

Remaining silent for a moment, it was a tough question to say the less but after nearly a few seconds she had her answer. "I think it would be better if I should test them as myself, to see if they are worthy of facing the stronger members of the WWW" she recalled the day she met Lan as herself and he wasn't aware that wasn't how she usually takes on crime due to her status as a secret agents. "It would prove interesting for the two of us would do against Megaman."

Woodman nodded, it wouldn't hurt to see how strong Megaman and his operator truly are in a Net-Battle against them then both agreed to let Commander Beef and fellow Agent Mysteriyu know that the mission was a success via email then the green-haired young woman smiled.

* * *

><p>In the meanwhile, in a secret base hidden in an unknown place, the evil mastermind of World Three was sitting in front of his terminal, carefully examining all data he had gotten.<p>

"Hmph… looks like there have been a few problems, but overall, the plan is proceeding just as I predicted." Dr. Albert Wily muttered darkly to himself. "And yet, there is this little fly in my ointment… this Net-Navi called MegaMan and his operator… Lan Hikari, the grandson of that accursed Tadashi Hikari. Even from beyond the grave, he wants to destroy the work of my life, huh? Well, no matter. I will have my revenge soon… as soon as the four Elemental Programs are in my hands… and soon, the world will tremble before the might of my Life Virus!"

Dr. Wily smiled cruelly, taking a look at an electronic map of ACDC Town. "And our next target will be… Waterworks! Hehehehee… I know Maddy and ColorMan will not fail me!"

A/Ns: Well another chapter is finished; hope you guys enjoy what I wrote. Just wanted to let you know in advance that this September, I will be officially going to college but I will do my best to work on my stories whenever I can on my spare time. Check ya later!


	4. Iceman, Water's Missing!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman or anything related to the Classic Series, the X Series, the Zero Series, the ZX Series, the Legends Series, the Battle Network Series or the Star Force Series, all are the property of Capcom and Kenji Inafune. If I were Capcom, I would not have cancelled Megaman Legends 3 or Megaman Universe for stupid reasons.**

**Megaman Battle Network: The Online Wars**

**Chapter 4 – Iceman, Water's Missing!**

**By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by LilyNadesico**

**oooooooooo**

That night, in the complex of Waterworks, the company responsible for distributing and checking the water supply for ACDC Town, something very unusual was happening. While the complex seemed to be deserted, the workers having left the work for the night to the Navis and the automated systems, a single figure was slowly walking through the dark corridors, using a small flash light to see in front of himself. He was walking at a steady pace, looking calm but actually feeling like a bundle of nerves. What he was going to do was certainly no small deal… but he was with his back against the wall, and he could not afford to let his conscience get the best of him…

After reaching a large double door and placing what looked like an ID card in front of it, he was granted access to a large computer room, in which several terminals were running programs that controlled the water supply for the whole city. He sighed and walked in, reaching a large computer and placing a small PET on the keyboard… then he sat in front of the large computer and got ready to jack in.

"Say, Froid… I know that Tory's life is at stake here, but you know what you are going to do now, right?" asked a small, chirpy voice from the man's PET. "This could be a disaster for ACDC town, and you know it."

"I know, Iceman… but what else can we do? If we try to contact the Officers, those bastards at the WWW have guaranteed that my son's life will be forfeit." Froid answered grimly, as if knowing that there really was nothing else he could do. "After all, Tory is your operator, isn't he? I am sure you want to protect him as well."

The Net-Navi called Iceman, a small Net-Navi with ice-white skin, wearing a cute green parka and snow boots that made him look like a miniature Eskimo, with large blue eyes, and a face with no nose, grit his teeth and slowly nodded. "I know… I am willing to do everything in my power to save him. I just think that… well… many people are going to suffer because of what we are doing. We can't just ignore that, you know."

"I know perfectly well, Iceman!" the man called Froid snapped. "But… there is no other choice at the moment. I am prepared for the consequences, and I will bear full responsability for what I am going to do. After all… if it is to save my son's life, I would be willing to sell my soul to the devil himself."

Iceman said nothing, getting ready for the grim duty he and the father of his operator were about to fulfill. "I know… curse the WWW and their ambitions! I just wish there was a way we could strike back at them…"

"Me too… me too, Iceman…" Froid answered, as he entered the program that controller water distribution and jacked in Iceman…

* * *

><p>The following morning, Lan was stirring in his sleep and more so as Megaman was calling him from within his PET while at the same time, reminding him that he has school. "Come on Megaman, its Saturday... I need sleep..." he muttred, briefly waking up to remind his Net-Navi that it was a weekend and normally there shouldn't be school on a weekend which the Blue Bomber checked the digital calender which made him smirk.<p>

"You're right Lan," he commented, which the brown-haired young man was relieved that his Navi finally noticed and was about to go back to sleep when he heard something else. "However, you have weekend class this week."

Lan fell off the bed, onto the ground anime-style, giving a huge groan. "Oh man!" he mentally cursed as he rose up in order to get ready for his weekend class. Needless to say, it took him a while for him to even do so since Megaman reminded him that they're already late and as soon as he got downstair, who should greet him but Mayl. "Mayl?"

"You're late!" she said, her arms were crossed as she waited for him outside and eventually decided to come in so she could get him ready though this is Lan afterall, he's not one to be ready to get though while he was somewhat surprised that she was in his house rather than outside, he couldn't help but feel apologetic for once again waking up late.

"Sorry, sorry..." he said, trying his best to apologize when his mother Haruka Hikari came to see how the two kids were doing yet there was something that truly got his attention and made him a bit concerned. "Hey mom, are you feeling okay?"

"No it's not that, it's just that..." she tried to speak, though she needed to sit down in order to properly explain the situation to her son and Mayl. "I'm afraid the water's off, so I'm not going to be able to make breakfast today..."

Lan was completely shocked to hear this, though what really shocked him other than there being no breakfast today, or Mayl being in his house, was the fact that the water wasn't working for some reason... a month had passed since the "School-Jacking" incident and the whole thing with Metroline while Mayl gave a small frown. "Well whatever the case Mrs. Hikari, Lan and I need to get going as we're already late enough as it is..." the red-haired girl grabbed Lan's arm and pulled out the door. "You should get some rest."

"I'll try, still it's nice to have you over Mayl" said Haruka, watching the two heading outside and making their way to school then glanced at a photograph of her with Lan and his father, giving a small smile as she did so. "Well our boy is starting to become just like you."

* * *

><p>As the two walked to school together, they were starting to suspect that something just wasn't right as from what they heard ever since the conflicts against Hisgby and against Stoneman, WWW's crimes are starting to get worse despite two of their major plans having been thrwated. "You heard about what happened?" she decided to ask him, knowing fully as she wasn't the only one not to have any water at home. "Apparently it's starting to affect this whole town, I thought it was just me when I woke up this morning... I couldn't even wash my face either..."<p>

"Well I'm sure it's just our houses, maybe you can get your face washed when we get to school" he replied, hoping that it was just them otherwise he wouldn't know what to do as he hadn't had any breakfast since getting up though he's starting to see that he might be wrong. "Besides, it wouldn't be right for ACDC Town to have a drought all of a sudden."

"I hope you're right, but still..." began Mayl, deciding to change the subject a bit for now since she had something else to tell Lan even though it had nothing to do with the crisis taking place but it would be best to tell him in advance. "That reminds me, a new student will be joining us today though some of our classmates were mentioning something about her having bad luck... Even Dex and Yai were hoping it was just made up."

"Oh, you don't mean to tell me that you believe in such things as bad luck, right, Mayl?" Lan answered with a slight chuckle. "Those things exist in occult movies and things like that, not in real life, right, Megaman?"

"Of… of course, Lan! This… is certainly just an unfounded rumour!" Megaman nervously answered, to which Lan blinked twice in confusion before remembering that Megaman had always had a strange fear of anything supernatural. "Anyway, we might want to hurry it up, if we don't want Ms. Mari to put us in detention for tardiness!"

"Man, that would be the last thing I ever wanted!" Lan exclaimed, as he and Mayl picked up the pace and hurried towards the school…

* * *

><p>"Phew… we made it just in time!" Lan sighed as he flopped down on the desk, just a few seconds before the bell sonde, signalling that lessons were about to start. A few seconds later, as punctual as ever, Ms. Mari entered the classroom, and all the students stood up at attention and greeted her.<p>

"Good morning, class!" the young teacher exclaimed. "I'm glad to see you all this morning! And I'm glad to see that you're here too, Lan! This time, you actually managed not to arrive late! Hehehee…"

Lan winced slightly in embarassment and tried to laugh it off, when Ms. Mari cleared her voice, and addressed the whole classroom. "Well, anyway… I'm glad to tell you, classroom, that this morning, a new student will join our class! She's a transfer student from a nearby town, and she's still a little nervous from the fact that she doesn't know anyone here, so… try and be nice to her, okay?" As the whole class nodded, most of them beginning to wonder what kind of person the new pupil was, a few of them seemed to cringe slightly and shrink in their chairs, as if they had received worrying news…

"Please, class, let's all give a warm welcome to our new student, Shuko Kido." Ms. Mari exclaimed, before turning to the entrance and gently motioning for the new student to come in. "Please, Shuko, come in. Don't be shy."

With an uneasy pace, the new student walked in: she was a pretty, shy-looking girl with long blue hair tied in a pair of side pigtails, her face pale and bearing a kind yet somewhat sad smile, and deep blue eyes that sparkled like water. She was wearing a green shirt with a short blue skirt, along with a pair of simple black shoes on white socks, and was holding her schoolbag with both hands, fidgeting nervously with it. She was trying to avoid eye contact with the rest of the classroom, but the male students were already looking at her and thinking she was very pretty – except for a very few who seemed to cringe even more at her sight.

The girl walked forward… and prompty tripped and fell on her face right in front of the teacher and the whole classroom, yelping a little in pain before standing up and gingerly rubbing her nose. Ms. Mari bent down and helped her up, worried that she hadn't gotten hurt in any way. "Oh, dear… are you okay, Shuko?"

The blue-haired girl smiled gently. "I am fine, Ms. Mari, do not worry about me…" she said in a faint voice, as if she was afraid of letting the words out of her mouth. "It is something that happens a lot to me. Just my usual bad luck." With that, Shuko took a deep breath and turned to the rest of the classroom, bowing deeply in greeting. "I am very pleased to meet all of you. My name is Shuko Kido, and from now on, I will be studying here. Please take good care of me…"

Lan and Mayl remained silent as did Dex and Yai, while this didn't look like a good first impression, they could only hope it wouldn't cause any uproar from the rest of their classmates and speaking of classmates, they noticed that their friend Tory Froid was absent as he usually wouldn't cut class at all, it just wasn't like him or his Net-Navi Iceman come to think of it. "I wonder where Tory is..." wondered Lan, being the first to speak since normally Tory was present at school everyday. "Do you really think something happened to him?"

"Hope not" added Mayl, she's a bit worried as well but didn't want to show it during class at least not right now. "Maybe he might come late, like something very important since his dad runs the Waterworks and all... could be trying to fix the problem with the water."

Lan remained silent, hoping that his childhood friend was right though it was then that Yai decided to speak up. "Speaking of Tory, I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually gone missing..." she said, somewhat shocking the others. "That's just me but I kinda smell a rat, but I'll tell you more about it later."

Ms. Mari cleared her throat as there was something she needed to discuss with the class, she too noticed the absence of Tory but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. "On another note, I have some bad news, you should know that the town water has stopped " she spoke, much to the dismay of the entire classroom. "Unfortunately, this means there's no water at the fountain or the entire neighbourhood as far as I m aware of."

"Do you know why Ms. Mari?" asked Mayl, having raised her hand to see if there's anything else involving the issue that is taking place and the school teacher shook her head with a small frown on her face.

"We're not sure, so we don't know when it will be fixed" she answered Mayl's question, seeing this as a rather important issue and could only hope it could be resolved soon before anyone passes out from lack of water in the entire town. "I'm afraid we'll have to cancel class for today."

"Alright!" Dex looked glad to hear this news, he could enjoy kicking back and relaxing for once, maybe even have a few Net-Battles at the local arcade but Ms. Mari wasn't finished with what she had to say just yet.

"Wait! Don't walk around too much, you'll get thirsty" she told the children, before taking her leave however just before she did, there was something else that caught her eye... an empty desk right where Lan, Mayl, Dex and Yai usually sit near. "Just one last thing I'd like to discuss, do any of you have an idea on where Tory is?"

"We're not sure ourselves Ms. Mari..." answered Yai, even she had no clue on Tory's whereabouts right now and this only made the school teacher worried about the young boy, she even found that she couldn't make contact with his father which added to this. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I sure hope so Yai, there's no answer from his father Dr. Froid either..." said Ms. Mari, there's something truly strange going on as Tory couldn't have just disappeared without a trace or even without letting the class know, further proving that him being late wasn't a good sign for anyone especially to Lan and the others.

Shuko was listening to what Ms. Mari was saying herself, and she sighed in sadness when she reasoned that Tory's disappearence and the sudden water crisis that had hit ACDC Town were somehow her fault. After all, it had been that way for her ever since she was born – she was always bringing bad luck to herself and to all those around her. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have her transfer to that school, no matter how much her brothers insisted otherwise…

* * *

><p>The lessons had gone by without a hitch, even though the absence of water and the thirst had made things somewhat hard to stand. It was something that worried quite a few of the students… if the water wasn't going to return anytime soon, it could have been a disaster for the whole town.<p>

During lunch break, Lan and his friends, trying not to think about the water problem, had gathered in the school's garden to eat their packed lunch together, and Lan was thinking he could invite Shuko as well, if only to make her feel welcome in the new school. Mayl, Dex and Yai had been a little nervous about it, because of the rumors about the shy blue-haired girl and her supposed ability to bring bad luck upon those who came close to her… but Lan had convinced them to give the timid blue-haired girl a chance, and after they had set up their lunch on a large blanket on the ground, Lan had gone looking for Shuko, finding her hidden behind a tree humming to herself. She had been so engrossed in her own world that she found herself jumping up in surprise when Lan called her name to get her attention.

"Hey, Shuko! How are you doing?" Lan greeted her in a friendly way. The blue-haired girl jumped up and turned to the chestnut-haired young man, her eyes wide in surprise, and Lan quickly stepped back and rubbed the back of his head, laughing jovially. "Heheheheee… sorry, Shuko, I didn't mean to scare you! I saw you were here all alone, and I thought you could use some company. I mean, since you're new around here and all… Wouldn't you like to join me and my friends for lunch?"

"Oh… Is that… really so? You… would like me to join you for lunch?" Shuko asked, not daring to believe what she was hearing.

A small, vivacious voice coming from a PET on Shuko's waist became heard. "Come on, Shuko, don't be shy, drip! I think it would be good for you to go and meet some friends, drip drip!" said the voice of the Net-Navi contained into the blue-haired girl's PET – a small, cute Net-Navi with a spherical head that looked like an inverted bowl filled with water, through which a pair of large black eyes and a large smiling mouth could be seen. Two ear-like protrusions were placed on the sides of his head, and a small stream of water sprayed from the top of his head. His small blue body, with short legs and rather long arms, was protected by a white bodysuit bearing his symbol – a blue and white wavy line on a green background – on his chest.

"Do… do you really think so, Aquaman?" Shuko asked her Net-Navi. "What if something else goes wrong because of my..."

"You worry to much," reassured the Net-Navi known as Aquaman, trying to do his best to cheer his Operator up right now as she is still new at this school in ACDC Town. "I'm sure everything will go okay this time, maybe your luck might change."

Shuko remained silent for nearly a few seconds then nodded. "Maybe, I just hope you're right..." she said, before heading for the table that Lan and his friends were sitting at while Lan mentally commented that the blue-haired girl was kinda odd, he couldn't help but feel rather sorry for her since nobody else wanted to interact with her. "Sorry, it's just that I've been having lots of misfortune in my life..."

"Is that so..." began Lan, he was kinda hoping that what he and Mayl heard while they were on their way to school wasn't true about Shuko but silently listened to the girl's story just to be certain before they say anything. "If you don't feel comfortable tell us then..."

"No it's okay, it seems no matter what I do, I am destinded for unhappiness..." said Shuko, she began to tell Lan and his friends about every bad thing that ever occurred in her life and to make matters worse, she can't break this stream of eternal bad luck. "This morning, I hit my little finger on the corner of my dress, a stray dog chased me after work last night, and its my fault that my family is poor and my parents are both dead."

There was not a single word from Lan or the others especially as Shuko continued with what she was going to say. "I'll grow old without knowing what happiness is like... I'm such an unfortunate girl..." she said, the others looked at each other not knowing what to say then glanced back at Shuko, she really seems to have it tough her whole life.

"That really sucks for you, having all that bad luck... did you do something that caused..." Dex didn't finish what he was about to say as Mayl hit his shin with her elbow, much to the bigger student's dismay and the red-haired girl shot him a dirty expression that showed their new friend was already feeling bad enough and doesn't want Dex to say something to make it worse. "Ow... sorry..."

"It's okay… your friend just told the truth…" Shuko murmured sadly. She was caught aback when Lan placed a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her out of her self-loathing.

"Don't worry about that, Shuko… if you want, we will be your friends! Megaman and I are sure you will know what happiness is like, trust me on that! By the way… my name is Lan Hikari… and this is my Net-Navi Megaman!" the young boy answered, looking at Shuko straight in the eyes with a determined expression on his face as he showed her his PET, where Megaman was waving at her. The blue-haired girl blinked in surprise… and Mayl, even though she had felt a pang of jealousy when she had seen Lan get too close to that new girl for her liking, decided to join in as well, and gently shook Shuko's hand.

"Lan is right, Shuko. We are willing to become your friends, if you want!" the fuchsia-haired girl answered, trying to cheer her up. "By the way, my name is Mayl Sakurai. And my Net-Navi here is Roll! Pleased to meet you!"

"Likewise!" Roll said with a wink from Mayl's PET.

Shuko was quite surprised by that – she was used to people shunning her and almost being afraid of her as soon as they knew of her horrible luck, but now she was meeting people who seemed willing to help her. "I… I… don't know what to say, everyone, I… I wouldn't want to ruin everything with my bad luck and all…" she murmured, only to find herself looking eye to eye with a very determined Yai Ayanokoji, who was standing on tiptoes to take a good look at her face!

"And what kind of bad luck are you talking abut, pray tell?" Yai asked in a cross manner. "For your information, mademoiselle Shuko, a proper lady like myself never makes it a habit to give credit to such pedestrian superstitions! Therefore, if you want to join my clique of friends, you are more than welcome to, provided you respect the proper etiquette. I have the honor of being Yai Ayanokoji, heiress of the mighty Ayanokoji financial conglomerate, and this Net-Navi here is my personal butler, Glyde."

"I shall be honored to be of service, Ms. Shuko." Glyde answered.

Lan had a sweatdrop on the top of his head as he chuckled, and Megaman sighed and looked up at his operator. "That's our Yai for us, right? She'd never pass up on a chance to show off her… vocabulary!"

"Well, that's just how we want her, right?" Dex chuckled. "By the way, my name is Dex Oyama! And this one here is my Net-Navi Gutsman! We are the toughest and most badass Net-Battlers around here and two legends in the making!

"Two legends in the making, guts!" Gutsman repeated, punching his own chest like a gorilla and leaving Shuko more than a little dumbfounded. Yai sighed and shook her head, used to the large boy's over-the-top declarations.

"More like a legend in your own minds." The young heiress snarked.

Shuko stood in silence for a few moments, amazed at the newcomers… and soon after, she actually managed to smile and giggle in content! "Hehee… thank you… thank you, guys! I… don't remember anyone ever wanting to be my friend! I'll… be glad to join you! Oh, and by the way… I still need to introduce you to my Net-Navi, Aquaman!"

She held up her PET, where the cute little water-themed Net-Navi smiled and waved. "Hello, everyone, drip! I am Shuko's Net-Navi, Aquaman, drip drip!"

"Awwww, he's so cute!" Mayl gushed over the diminutive Net-Navi. "I think he could win a battle by just standing there and charm the opponent into giving up!"

"I certainly wouldn't be able to fight someone like that…" Roll exclaimed happily.

Gutsman felt embarassed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Me too. It would feel wrong to hit him, guts!" he murmured.

The team laughed together at that, and even Shuko managed to let out a timid giggle, before her thoughts went to another problem that was troubling the class… and the whole school. "By the way… do you happen to know anything about this strange water shortage? Aquaman told me that there were problems at WaterWorks this morning, before I went to school…"

"We have heard quite a few things about it, actually…" Megaman answered with a small sigh. "It is a bit of a problem indeed… and aside from that, there is also the problem of our missing classmate…"

"What do you mean, a classmate is missing, drip?" Aquaman murmured, having overheard Megaman even though he was speaking in a low voice.

"Erm… nothing, really… it's just that a friend of ours, Tory Froid, has been strangely absent from school…" Mayl answered, a little embarassed. "He's the son of a Waterworks engineer, so it seems kinda strange that he's absent right when there is a water crisis coming up… but I guess it's just a coincidence, after all!"

"I… guess so…" Shuko answered, getting the uneasy feeling that Mayl and the others were more worried about Tory than they were letting out, and that they were trying to hide something from her.

As Lan resolved to give the matter a look as soon as school was over for the day, he strugge and tried to engage Shuko in a more pleasant conversation. "Anyway, I'm sure the guys at Waterworks are looking it over, and we will soon have water back!" he said. "And about Tory, well, we'll see him again tomorrow, I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah, you're right, Lan!" Dex answered. "After all, well… there is nothing we can do right now but wait for Waterworks to sort this mess out, right?"

Shuko nodded slightly, but she still had the feeling that her new friends wanted to do something about the water shortage themselves, and she was entertaining the idea of helping them…

* * *

><p>However, this would prove to be an unwise decision as two members of the WWW were at the scene and ensuring that this time... there mission would go smoothly without any interference from Lan, his friends or that Net-Agent sent by the Legendary Commander Beef. "Everything's going according as planned" began one of the members, which was none other than the same member that was spying on Lan, Mayl and Dex when they interfered with Stoneman's operation at the Metroline not too long back "What's the status on your end Maddy?"<p>

"Going perfectly Yuri... All thanks to our pawn..." laughed the WWW member known as Maddy, her Net-Navi Colorman along with Yuri's Navi Needleman were currently in position for the next phase of the plan for the Waterworks, both female agents were disguised as scientists working for Sci-Labs as there was something at the lab itself that Wily wanted them to acquire but they wouldn't want to arrouse any unwanted attention so they kidnapped Froid's son and blackmailed him to freeze the Waterworks System with Iceman, more so as it would be amusing to see Froid himself taking the blame for their crimes. "Let's just hope we don't get any unwelcome guests."

Yuri remained silent, she knew better not to say anything that could completely jeopardize the entire operation and more so as she is here to keep Maddy in line just to be on the safe side. "Let's stay focused, I wouldn't want to inform Lord Wily of any incompetence" she told her partner, making the red-haired woman scowl at what Yuri just said to her.

_You really think you are all that just because you are Lord Wily's best henchman aside from Yahoot..._ she thought, wishing that there was just one moment that she could wipe that smug look off of Yuri's face but decided against it, at least for now... _Maybe once this mission is a success, we'll see who has the last laugh._

On the other hand, Yuri was more preoccupied with making some preparations and to be better safe than sorry should Lan and/or any of his friends try to intervene... because if they do, she and Needleman will be ready to eliminate them all... permanently. "Perfect..." she said to herself, giving an evil smile on her face. "You know what you need to do Needleman."

"With pleasure Ms. Yuri!" grinned the WWW Navi she was operating, preparing to hack into Sci-Labs' systems while everyone is too busy trying to fix the problem with the Waterworks and Colorman made sure the alarms won't be activated as they know better than to alert anyone, especially security Navis of their hacking. "You better not mess this one up Colorman, otherwise there will be hell to pay!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I'm doing my part of the mission!" Colorman mentally cursed at his partner wanting to get things done as swiftly as possible, though can't help but think that it wouldn't be any fun unless he gets the chance at deleting the Net-Navi known as Megaman and any friends he brings with him to help but beggars can't be choosers as they always say.

Maddy and Yuri didn't say a single word but glanced at each other, there seemed to be quite a bit of distrust between the two WWW members and usually never showed it while they were on missions or reporting to Wily himself then again... they've been hiding it from everyone for quite sometime which Maddy hoped to one day become the next high-ranking member in the organization and from the way things are going, it might just happen. "In any case, I want you to keep guard in case someone arrives" suggested Yuri.

"Whatever..." said Maddy, giving a brushoff and stood in front of the door and was on guard while it seemed quiet enough, one can't be too careful even if they are part of a group that wants to begin the final mission called "the End Game" or whatever it was that Wily has been talking about ever since acquiring the first two programs that he wanted to gain which leaves the remaining programs to deliver to him. "Still, I wouldn't be surprised if a Net-Agent was to come our way right now..."

This resulted in Yuri giving Maddy a darkened glare, which lasted for a brief second then returned her attention towards her PET as Colorman was focusing on taking out the alarm systems and Needleman is hacking into the systems of Sci-Labs itself but it wasn't going to be an easy task seeing as it is highly encrypted so it could take a long time before they are able to get inside for Phase 3 of the operation.

* * *

><p>However, what they were not aware of was the fact there was a Net-Agent right in front of the Government Complex that Sci-Labs and the Waterworks was currently located, it was none other than Sal herself as she had a stand that she made to sell fresh homegrown box lunches to people while at the same time was informed of something happening at the Waterworks by Commander Beef and Mysteriyu. "Seems quiet enough, though appearances can be decieving..." she said to herself.<p>

She was kinda hoping that she could see Lan and his friends again since it would be good to challenge him and Megaman to a battle not only for entertainment but to see if he is worthy of what she had for them which could help for the upcoming battles to come since WWW is starting to send their more powerful and much more lethal members to deal with the children. "Right now, the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens until the time comes" said Woodman from withing his Operator's PET. "Then again, we might not be the only Net-Agent on the scene."

"Oh?" wondered Sal, curious by what her Navi meant by this and wanted to hear more about this other Net-Agent as she knows herself, Commander Beef and Mysteriyu were all accounted for unless it was one of the Net-Agents that the Officials had sent first-hand to resolve the situation should the three fail."What on Earth are you talking about?"

Woodman frowned a bit and glanced at Sal. "It seems the officials had indeed sent another Net-Agent to this place in order to investigate whats happening to the water" he explained, as he never would have though it would actually come to this. "His father is the president of IPC while he himself is its vice-president... however that is about all I know."

"I see, understood..." responded Sal, she only hoped that it wouldn't be anything too serious as it is affecting the entire city itself and will only be a matter of time before people pass out from lack of water or worse... even die from both exhaustion and heat, both of which she couldn't stomach the thought of, cursing the WWW with every fiber of her being since innocent lives were at risk. "If I'm guessing right then Lan and his friends would most likely come here when they realize the situation won't resolve itself by tomorrow."

Woodman didn't say a word and only nodded his head, he didn't blame her as she had a bad history with the WWW since she was younger and more so as she doesn't usually talk about it with anyone other than him, not wanting to let her emotions cloud her judgement on the line of duty but sometimes when she was alone... she would reflect on how she became who she was. _Sal..._ he thought, wishing there was something he could do or say to cheer her up right now but wasn't sure what as he feared it might make it worse.

* * *

><p>With the lesson over for the day, Lan and his friends had gathered in the young Net-Battler's room in his house, in order to discuss what to do about the water crisis, which hadn't been resolved yet and looked like it was going to last longer than expected. The young Net-Battlers were sitting on the floor in the large room, their PETs connected to the young Hikari's PC, and their Net-Navi showing up on the screen so that they could take part in the discussion. Luckily, the Hikaris had a few bottles of mineral water in store, so that the young Net-Battlers could at least keep their thirst under control. They hadn't drank a single drop of water since they had woken up, and were beginning to feel parched.<p>

"Phew… I really needed that!" Lan sighed, downing his glass of water in a single gulp. "Man, I never really thought about it, but this water crisis is worse than I could imagine…"

"And that's why we're here now, Lan. We need to decide what to do about it." Megaman said from the screen. "If you ask me, I don't think this water problem is a coincidence. I think it has been caused by someone, and I'll give you three guesses who."

"And the first two don't count, I guess…" Mayl answered. "But, Megaman has a point. I'm beginning to suspect that the WWW is behind this too."

"But the question is, what would they stand to gain from cutting off the water supply to ACDC Town?" Glyde asked, speaking more to himself than to any of the others, who he knew couldn't really have an answer to that question. "There must be something to this, do you not concur?"

"Yeah, Glyde has a point on this one…" Yai answered, twirling one of her pigtails nervously. "If you ask moi, the best thing we can do at the moment is take a look at Waterworks, and see if there is something strange in their network. If there is, we can simply delete it and be done with it."

"But what if things weren't so simple?" Roll asked. "I mean, doesn't it seem strange to you that the Officials still haven't done anything about it, if that is the case? Maybe there is something more that we don't know…"

She stopped as the golden antennae she had on the front of her melon perked up, and the pink-clad female Net-Navi blinked a couple times, before looking around in slight surprise. "Huh? Wait a moment, everyone! I think… I think I just felt a familiar presence… it's here nearby, but I don't really know who that might be…"

"What do you mean? Where is he?" Megaman asked, looking around the virtual square in slight alarm. The Net-Navis were all standing in the midst of one of the largest squares in the net of ACDC Town, a place that seemed to be undergoing vast modifications, with several NormNavis and Mr. Progs working around the place and building what looked like small houses and paved roads. There were also several civilian Navi going about their everyday life, and Megaman and his friends couldn't see anything that looked familiar in the proximity. However, the Blue Bomber didn't doubt Roll's words and began searching for whatever she had felt.

Roll concentrated a little harder. "I think he's… right there!" she answered, pointing at a half-built virtual building that looked like a mass of pixels from an half-finished Minecraft project. Gutsman was the first to turn in that direction, and slammed his fists together as he began walking in that direction.

"Hey, you! Guts!" the large Net-Navi exclaimed. "What is the big idea, spying on us, guts? Maybe Gutsman should teach you some manners!"

"Er… I'm… very sorry about spying on you, drip drip…" the weak voice of a small Net-Navi came from behind the half-finished building… and much to everyone's surprise, Aquaman walked out of his hiding place, keeping his hands up in surrender. "I… was hanging around here because I had an errand to do for Shuko, drip… and I heard your conversation, and the fact that you wanted to go to WaterWorks…"

"And so… we decided to tag along, if you are okay with it, of course…" Shuko's timid voice cut it, and her pale face, framed by her shining blue hair, appeared in a comm window of Lan's screen. She looked rather curious about what her new friends were about to do… and at the same time, she was nervous about asking them to allow her along. She was worried about being a bad luck charm, but at the same time, she wanted to repay her new friends for their kindness.

Lan frowned a little, thinking that Shuko deserved to know what she was up against. "Well… normally, I wouldn't say no to that, but… we think that the WWW is behind this water crisis, so I think that could be rather dangerous… are you sure you and Aquaman will be able to handle this?"

"The… WWW?" Aquaman asked. "You mean… that dangerous gang of Net-Criminals that's getting a bad rep recently, drip?"

"Yeah. None other than them." Megaman explained. "We've faced them several times before, and we've always come out on top, but they have gotten tougher with time. We… won't try to stop you if you want to tag along, but… know that it won't be a joke. You might risk your lives too."

Shuko and Aquaman looked frightened for a moment… but then, they turned to each other, and the small Aqua-Type Navi, after gulping down in nervousness, nodded to his operator. "Yes… yes, I think we can handle this, drip! We might not be good battlers, but I'm sure we can help, drip!"

"Well… in this case, I don't see why not having you along!" Dex said with a cocky grin on his face, living a thumbs-up to the shy blue-haired girl and her Net-Navi, and Shuko smiled tentatively as she nodded in thanks.

"Thank you very much, my friends…" she murmured gently. "I… will do my best to help as well… so… where do we meet? And… when do we go to WaterWorks to solve this problem?"

The others gave a silent nod but smiled, they needed to get to the bottom of this one way or another however before they could do or say anything, Lan received an email from his PET which got everyone's attention. "Lan, you got an email!" Megaman's voice was heard from inside Lan's electronic device and what surprised him is who sent him the email. "It's from the woman we encountered back at the school during that incident with Higsby!"

"It's from her?" Lan, Mayl, Dex and Yai were somewhat surprised as they glanced at the email from the green-haired woman named Sal and it made them curious about why she was sending the message specifically to Lan of all people but couldn't hurt to find out. "Hold on..." he spoke, opening the email and her image was shown along with what the email says.

_To Lan Hikari,_

_It might be a bit sudden but Woodman and I would like to challenge you to a Net-Battle at the shop I opened near the Government Complex, it is right near Sci-Labs and the Waterworks... If you'd like, your friends are more than welcome to acompany you there as you are already aware that there is no water in the entirety of DenCity but I believe there is something more than just that, I feel that this might be the doing of the WWW._

_All will be revealed once you arrive and if you are able to prove yourself vicToryous, be warned as gentle as I am, I will not show you any mercy._

_Net-Agent Sal._

Lan and his friends remained silent, they especially Shuko had no idea that Sal was really a Net-Agent this whole time but to the former four, it made sense as she did help them stop the brainwashing system at their school and even helped get the Metroline working again... plus Woodman himself proved to be one hell of a powerhouse if he could easily destroy that boulder in the cyberworld with one Wood Tower attack. "Do you think we can trust her?" asked Mayl, while she isn't any enemy or a member of the WWW but she wouldn't be asking to face Lan and Megaman specifically without a good reason plus she did believe that the Waterworks' water incident taking place was the WWW's doing.

"Well she has helped us twice, then again if Woodman is as strong as we suspect he is then we might need to get better equipped in order to beat him" answered Lan, he himself wasn't so sure if he and his Net-Navi would win with their current strength let alone with just the Program Advance as Sal would have a few surprises of her own plus his friends would never have thought Lan of all people would say such a thing. "In any case, we should head for the Metroline as soon as possible; odds are Sal is waiting for us right now."

"Not only that, we could make a quick stop at Higsby's Chip Shop since it just recently opened in town" suggested Yai, ever since the whole event that nearly turned everyone at school into WWW slaves, Higsby quit not only teaching at there but also decided to leave the WWW itself and open up a Battle Chip shop to seal Battle Chips to any Net-Battlers who come in. "Odds are we might be able to find what we need there if we're lucky."

"Good idea, perhaps Mr. Higsby might know something about WWW that we don't already know since he used to be with them" added Mayl, which Roll nodded from inside of her red-haired operator's PET.

Lan also nodded his head and with that in mind, the group decided to check with Higsby first before they head for the Waterworks. "Alright Mom, we'll be out for a while!" he called to his mother, letting her know that they'll be leaving the house, deciding against telling her that it is another task against the WWW so not to worry her. "I'll email you when we're on our way back!"

"Okay, just be careful!" came Haruka's voice, wanting to be certain that the five children would stay safe especially as there is still no water anywhere, not even in other parts of DenCity. "Also make sure not to walk around too much or you'll end up suffering from dehydraytion."

"Understood!" Lan replied back, then they left the house and made their way towards Higsby's newly opened Chip Shop and if there's anything going on with what the WWW is going, it's him as there must be some kind of connection with what they have been happening lately so they needed answers soon.

* * *

><p>"You know, I just realized... when we left class, wasn't there a car parked right in front of the school?" asked Shuko, finding it a bit strange for a car to be parked right in the front of ACDC elementary school and the owner had yet to come back for it. "Just hope it wouldn't cause a commotion."<p>

"Who knows, maybe it is just out of gas and the driver went to see if he could find the nearest gas station" answered Dex, even he and the others were finding it rather suspicious about a car that is there without the owner getting some kind of parking ticket or something. "It won't be anything worried about."

"For once Dex has a good point" added Lan giving a nod, especially as there was more important things to deal with than just a parked car in the middle of nowhere let alone near their school since it might be towed away once the water is back in the entire city. "Let's just focus on the water for now and we'll deal with that car later."

Shuko silently nodded her head as they eventually came across what appeared to the Higsby's newly opened Chip Shop. "So this is where Mr. Higsby works now?" she asked, which the others responded with a nod as she was somewhat impressed by how busy it was and especially with Net-Ops in town checking to see what kind of Battle Chips were available and which were good enough to help them in a tough situation.

"Okay, Higsby should be around here somewhere" said Lan, while he was once a member of WWW, at least he found a means to redeem himself to everyone in town so to speak and same could be said for his Net-Navi Numberman. "What is that?" he soon took notice towards two large machines, one was red and the other was blue.

"That's the chip traders" came the voice of one of the customers, a female Net-Battler, as she began explaining how the Traders work. "When you put Battle Chips in the chip trader, you get 1 new one sort of like a lottery. However, the red ones take 3 chips to get 1 while the blue one needs 10 chips but gives more rares. You can use either one but don't lose all your chips."

"Thanks for the warning" said Lan, a bit relieved to learn about the two chip traders that and his friends have found, yet she isn't finished with her explanation just yet as there was something else they needed to be aware of.

"Just one more thing, putting in good chips doesn't mean you get a good one. The only thing that matters is how many chips, 3 or 10." She spoke before heading off to another part of the store, though Lan and his friends were more focused on other things such as the poster which had some menacing looking robot with purple armor and his face hidden by the helmet along with the stand of Numberman himself.

It wasn't till long before Mayl saw a familiar weird-looking man by the counter. "There's Mr. Higsby!" she called out to the others, glad to have finally found him since they had alot of things on their mind currently mainly involving the WWW as of right now. "Mr. Higsby, it's good to see you! We just needed to talk to you!"

"Huh? Oh, it's the kids from the other day!" the Battle Chip collector answered with a slight smile. "Well, tell me, what brings you here? And by the way, what do you think of my humble little shop! I've decided to work honestly now, and this is how I'm doin' it!"

Lan smiled as he looked around. "This place is awesome! I know where I am going to go when I need some new Battle Chips! By the way, Mr. Higsby, are these Chip Traders working already?"

"Of course they are! Just try putting a few chips in them, and see what you get, huh!" Higsby answered.

Megaman cleared his voice. "Ehm… I don't like to be a wet blanket, but don't forget the reason why we're here, Lan." He stated. "We need to ask Mr. Higsby about WWW."

Lan apologized and rubbed the back of his head in apology, while Mr. Higsby immediately seemed to get more serious at that. "The WWW? What about them?" he asked. "Is it about the shortage of water that is affecting our town, huh?"

"Y-yes, that's just it, Mr. Higsby…" Shuko murmured awkwardly, feeling somewhat strange as she knew she was talking to a former member of the criminal organization. "We… we think they are causing the water shortage… and we would like to do something about it…"

"But we need some info before we go in guns blazin'…" Dex answered. "For example… do you remember anything about the current plans of the WWW. I mean, what they are after, and what they are doing to get that?"

Higsby rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Well… I do remember that the boss of the WWW, that Dr. Albert Wily guy you saw back then, during that re-education program you saw when Numberman and I had overtaken the school…" he stated. "Well… yeah, that old man once told me something vague about four Elemental Programs that he needed to complete the Endgame. But I don't know what the Endgame is exactly… he was always quite reserved about his plans. Y'know, just in case someone defecates and spilled the beans, huh."

"Yeah… that old guy might be crazy, but he sure was not taking any chance there." Yai answered. "Still, they surely are not going to use the four Elemental Programs for anything good and noble."

"Still, this does give us a confirmation, Mademoiselle Yai." Glyde answered. "If WWW is operating at Waterworks, that means they believe the Water Program is there. Which would also make sense, after all. In any case, we do know that they are trying to get their hands on the Water Program for their Endgame plan…"

"Then we need to go there and put a stop to whatever they are doing." Lan answered, before taking a few unused Battle Chips out of his deck and inserting three of them in the Chip Trader. "Just hold on a second… I'll be trying to get a couple good chips out of this, and then we're off!"

"Hehehee… I knew he would do that before we went to Waterworks…" Megaman answered. "I think he could have had a good idea, though. We don't know what we are up against, and it doesn't hurt to come prepared."

"That's what I was thinking, Megaman!" Lan answered with a cocky grin, before polling a lever on the Chip Trader and taking a look at what he had obtained. It was a Battle Chip with the image of a blue Metool hitting the ground with its pick, and sending out a powerful shockwave through the floor. "Well, will you look at that? I got a nice DynaWave battleship! Now that will surely be useful!"

"Tell you what, I'm gonna try it too!" Dex answered, taking three of his unused Battle Chips and placing them in the trader, before polling a lever and seeing what he had obtained. Much to his disappointment, he saw that the chip was a Recover300… "Awww, man! I only got a lousy recovery chip… and here I was hoping for some powerful attack chip! Y'know, the sort of things a real man uses!"

"Gutsman is disappointed too, guts…" the bulky Net-Navi murmured.

"You shouldn't be so dismissive of a Recovery chip, Dex." Mayl answered, taking a few Battle Chips from her deck and preparing to place them in the machine. "You never know when it's going to be useful. Me, I'm going to try out this new chip Trader too…"

"Good luck, Mayl!" Roll told her from her PET. Mayl did the same thing Lan and Dex had done before, and when she pulled the lever, a Battle Chip came down for her to get. "Hmm… looks like I got an ElecSword chip! Not bad at all!"

"Just remember that you have to get close in order to hit an opponent with that Chip." Roll reminded her operator. "Still, there shouldn't be many viruses who could withstand a hit for a chip such as that. It will certainly be useful should we run into the WWW."

"Still, remember that you cannot afford to drop your guard around them." Numberman reminded them. "The WWW has some pretty dangerous agents… and I was quite low on the food chain. I wouldn't be surprised if they were sending out some nastier customers right now…"

"We will be careful… thank you, Numberman!" Megaman answered. "But before that, let's go take a look at what Sal has to tell us…"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in another portion of the Net…<p>

* * *

><p>The mysterious Net-Navi clad in red armor, with a black visor on his eyes, a stoic and serious expression on his face, and long white hair waving freely behind his back, was facing a large group of HeelNavis, criminal Navis wearing purple suit and armor, with an evil glint to their visors. Both the mysterious Navi in red armor and the HeelNavis were holding laser swords in their hands, and were facing off against each other… though the HeelNavis, in spite of their superior numbers, appeared to be at a disadvantage.<p>

"Curse you…" one of the HeelNavis muttered in a coarse voice. "I knew the Net Officers' ace Protoman and his operator Eugene Chaud Blaze were tough… but I never thought they were going to be that powerful!"

The Net-Navi is red armor, now named Protoman, raised his sword… and his operator appeared on a comm window close to him, revealing himself to be a boy about Lan's age, wearing a red racket, with short white hair that turned black on the sideburns and the back of his head, and icy blue eyes. He seemed just as serious and stoic as his Net-Navi as he glared at the HeelNavis.

"I am only giving you one more chance." The boy, Eugene Chaud Blaze, told the criminal Navis. "I ask you, what do you need the Water Program for? And where do your superiors hide?"

The HeelNavi leading the gorup in question gave a darkened expression, a sign that he would rather face deletion than tell the boy or Protoman anything involving Wily's plans for the program. "What makes you think we would tell you anything?" he asked after a bit of silence, sure Protoman was a powerful Net-Navi but even he would be insane to take on all of them at once. "There are more of us and only one of you, we'll eventually overpower you and make you beg for mercy."

"That remains to be seen..." responded Chaud, seeing that trying to reason with these criminals is going to be meaningless and turned his glance back towards his Net-Navi, his PET was unique as it was dark red in color rather than the light blue that the regular PETs are. "You know what you need to do Protoman."

"Understood..." responded Protoman, making the first move and charged at the HeelNavis in front of him, all of which were rather amused by this act of retaliation then got ready to dish out some serious pain onto their foe but as they attempted to attack... they failed to take into account that he wasn't just powerful but was also fast as one by one, each HeelNavis felt against Protoman's Sword with relative ease and swifty cut them all down.

_HeelNavis Deleted_

The lead HeelNavi was furious at this and ends up producing his Sword, pointing it at Protoman while at the same time... realizing that it has been a long time since he himself had ever fought a powerful opponent as the only other Net-Navi that he had gone against was one used by the well famed Commander Beef. "I'm impressed, somehow you were able to delete my men like they were nothing" he spoke in the same hoarse voice from before. "However, even if you defeat me... you're still too late as by now we'll have the Water Program for Lord Wily."

"We'll see about that!" snapped Protoman before he and the lead HeelNavi clashed swords with each other, though the lead HeelNavi is actually more powerful than the others he was leading, he shouldn't be too much of a hassle, especially against his speed. "Don't tell me this is the best that you can come up with?"

"Actually no, it isn't..." responded the HeelNavi, activating Invisibility to vanish without a trace which made both him and Chaud frown at this cheap trick as their opponent seemed to be trying to get some advantage in this conflict but they knew one thing was certain... he was dead wrong as they were going to further prove it. "Try and find me now!"

There was no reply from Protoman, the two were not going to go all over the place to search this part of the net and instead waited for to make the first move then strike when he least expects it, the evil solo Navi began laughing again from the middle of nowhere as he was looking forward to tearing Protoman apart piece by painful piece. _That's right, try to locate me... I will be waiting to put you out of your miserly like a Ninja sent to assassinate their target..._ he thought to himself, his weapon was also invisible and prepared to attack his opponent. _Now it's time to die._

Yet as he slashed at Protoman, he saw that the red-armored Navi had disappeared himself and wondered how it could have been possible only to realize that it must have been an Area Steal Battle Chip and then saw Protoman swooping down at him with his sword, which he used his own to parry the attack. Both Net-Navis were in combat once more, each trying to overpower the other though Protoman was proving to be stronger as he pushed the invisible HeelNavi away and impales him in the chest... revealing his presence once more. "Aaugh..." muttered the HeelNavi, horrified at his loss then gave a darkened glare at Protoman. "This is not over... soon the EndGame will commence and you won't be around to bare witness to the end of all things."

Without nothing more to say to the HeelNavi, Protoman pulled his sword out and sliced him in half, resulting iin his permanent defeat. _HeelNavi Deleted._

"The EndGame... what exactly did he mean by that?" Chaud asked himself, even he didn't have a clue on this event but he did know that it needed to be stopped before the WWW can get all the programs needed to begin it. "Protoman, log out and regroup at once."

"Yes sir!" Protoman replied back, before logging out and returning to his PET to better asset the entire situation.

_Protoman Logging Out._

The white-haired Agent remained silent, unhooking his PET from the Jack-In Point and was less than thrilled by the lack of progress in this mission, sure he was able to get some clues as to why the WWW is performing the crimes in the entirety of DenTech City and more so as it had to be bigger than just petty crimes. "Damn, this is getting us nowhere..." he said to himself, especially as the WWW so far had one of the programs needed for this so-called 'EndGame' and the Water Program from what intelligence says is located in the WaterWorks, which in term makes sense due to the fact that there is a shortage of water in ACDC Town.

"What do you suppose we do?" asked Protoman, from his PET and in a way, they still have a task to complete even if it means working with another Net-Agent to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. "From what I'm aware of, another Net-Agent is at the Government Complex and she's an ally of Commander Beef... probably to act as a spy just in case whoever caused the drought there would come back."

Chaud nodded his head; the serious expression from both Net-Op and Net-Navi showed that there can be no hesitation during missions. "For now, we'll investigate the matter while we let the Agent that Beef stationed at the Complex do her task" answered the Official, he had no qualms against allied Agents but if they get in his way then he shall show no mercy. "Better we wait for everyone working there to head home before we take action."

"Very well" said Protoman, understanding his operator and both headed off to the Government Complex to prepare for the next part of their mission and at the same time, both actually hoped that the WWW would give them more of a challenge as those HeelNavis were a waste of their time but suspected that the more experienced members would be waiting for the right moment to make their move so it is best to be ready for anything.

* * *

><p>In the meanwhile, in a peripheral area of ACDC Town, Lan, Megaman and their friends had just gotten off of a Metroline train, and were following the indications left for them in the mail that Sal had just sent them, and were looking for a small stand selling natural-grown food. "Say, Lan… are you sure this is the place where we're going to find this Sal girl?" Dex asked, rubbing his forehead in slight frustration as he looked around. "I mean, it's not like we can easily find a food stand in particular, among all these!"<p>

"I'll admit I didn't think this one through…" Lan admitted, looking around to see that they were surrounded by small stands, and that it wasn't going to be very easy to look for one in particular. "Still, I don't see what the problem is. I mean, all we have to do is look for a stand with a young green-haired woman standing behind it, right?"

Megaman sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Really, Lan… sometimes, I think you should really learn to think about certain things before you act!" he said in exasperation. "Oh well… nothing to do but take a look around, I guess. I mean, this is not exactly a large place, so we just have to keep our eyes peeled and look for someone with green hair…"

"Uh… sorry…" Shuko timidly pointed out, indicating a small food stand that was placed somewhat removed from the rest. "But… isn't that a food stand? And… I think the woman standing behind it does have green hair."

"Huh? Where is it? Man, I'm not used to these places of gathering for commoners…" Yai said, taking a look around. The young heiress scanned the whole place before her gaze landed upon a stand, behind which she recognized Sal! "Oh, there it is! I have to say, Shuko, you're pretty sharp! I am glad we brought you along for the ride!"

"T-Thank you…" Shuko murmured, feeling a little embarassed at a compliment given so quickly and sincerely. She really wasn't used to having such great friends around… "I… I did nothing, really… I just looked around, and I saw that one of the stands matched the description…"

"Well, you still helped us out a lot, so we're grateful to you for that!" Mayl answered, patting the blue-haired girl on the shoulder before the team headed to Sal's food stand, weaving through the passerbys to get to it.

"There she is..." began Lan, recognizing Sal as the Net-Op who helped stop the brainwashing program that Higsby was instructed to use to turn the school into WWW's slaves and she was also the one who had Woodman help get rid of the boulder that Stoneman placed within the Metroline's system. "I never knew she owned a food stand."

"It might have just opened like Mr. Higsby's Chip Shop in a way" added Mayl, which made sense though it is becoming a popular spot in the Government Complex aside from Sci-Labs and the Waterworks... afterall, Lan's father is in charge of Sci-Labs while Tory's father Dr. Froid runs the Waterworks.

Within Mayl's PET, Roll nodded her head and had a feeling that it might have been opened to keep her identity as a possible Net-Agent intact, showing there was more to Sal than meets the eye yet was still rather suspicious that Woodman's Operator wishes to face Lan and Megaman as normally Net-Agents wouldn't request a battle with a civilian unless there had to be some good reason behind all of it. "You know something... I'm having this feeling that we weren't called here by a mere coincidence" said the female Net-Navi in question, getting everyone's attention before she continued. "Doesn't it seem odd that Sal wants to see us specifically? Even if it was to see how Lan and Mega in an actual battle."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that even before we left Lan's house" added Mayl, interacting with her Net-Navi and the others remained silent at this since there was the matter if Lan would be able to at least prove himself to Sal, even if he doesn't win the match with her after having witnessed the capabilities of her Net-Navi at the Metroline's systems. "You sure you're up to it Lan?"

Remaining silent for a moment, Lan nodded his head to his childhood friend. "Of course, let's see what this is all about... Maybe then we'll find out the whole story on what's going on" he told the others as the group made their way towards Sal's food stand though the smell of the lunch she's been making for the people that were already present was heavenly so to speak.

As this was going on, Sal was somewhat surprised that her stand is doing rather successful; then again it made sense as she has a flower shop at another part of ACDC Town and it's been doing well too. It wasn't for long before she saw Lan and the others have arrived, making her smile in a way that the brown-haired young man got her email. "Greetings, would you like an all-natural lunch?"

While the group knew that they have seen Sal before at their school, it would be best not to arouse any unwanted attention from the public. "Sure thing..." responded Lan, with a light smile, the green-haired young woman gave each of the five children a delicious lunch that she made herself though she was in a way surprised to see Shuko among the group since the blue-haired girl wasn't with them last time which could mean she might be new to town.

"It's pleasure to see you all, and I hope you're all doing well." Sal said, taking a good look at the five Net-Battlers. "And… I think I see a new friend in your group, is that right?"

Shuko glanced down in shyness, felling a little awkward under Sal's gaze and cleared her voice before trying to introduce herself to the young green-haired woman. "W-well… I… I am new here actually… my name is Shuko Kido, and… I'm a new student in Lan's class… they… they are trying to make me feel comfortable with… the new city I'm in…"

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you as well!" Sal said, smiling gently at the blue-haired little girl. "I'm sure you will do well in your new living place, dear! So, Lan… I can see that you and your friends seem to be doing rather well too! Thanks for coming as soon as you could, by the way… I do know that ACDC Town is facing quite a problem with the water supply."

"Yeah, that's what worries us right now…" Roll answered from her PET. "Our families have some bottled water to make do, but it won't last much more than a few days. We need to find a way to solve this problem, before it becomes really serious…"

Sal had a serious expression on her face as she thought about the answer she had just received. "Yeah… I can see why you'd be worried about that, my friends…" she answered, rubbing her forehead in deep thought. "I think I can help you with that, but I need to warn you that you're going up against the WWW… and I'm sure you know how dangerous it is to go up against that organization."

"The WWW… yeah, I kinda had a hunch those guys were behind this." Lan said, having a bad feeling about the whole situation. It seemed that WWW enjoyed picking on his hometown for some reason… "So, if you say you can help us, Sal… what should we do to solve this water problem?"

"Well, first off, I would like to see if you and Megaman would be willing to fight a Net-Battle with me and my Woodman." Sal answered, pointing to her PET, on which the gigantic Wood-Element Net-Navi could be seen. "If you can defeat us, I know you will have what it takes to face the WWW and come back alive."

Lan and Megaman blinked at this, and looked at each other as if to make sure they both were willing to go through with this. "Well, Lan, the choice is yours." The Blue Bomber answered. "You know Sal has nothing but our interests at heart… and personally, I think we have a chance of winning a Net-Battle with Woodman. We can try, don't you think so?"

"I'd be lying if I said that I'm not curious about testing myself…" Lan said with a slight smirk. "Okay then, we can try! Let's have a Net-Battle here and now, Sal! I think we stand a chance!"

"THat's good to know! But rest assured, I will not go easy on you just because you're friends!" Sal answered, smiling as well! "Okay, Woodman, here we go!"

"Jack-in, Megaman! Execute!" Lan exclaimed, logging his PET in Sal's food stand, just as she did. Mayl chuckled to herself, thinking that it was just like Lan to be always so eager to throw himself into a battle. After all, she had had about ten years of friendship to get to know him…

"Go for it, Lan! Show her that you mean business!" Yai cheered from the sidelines.

Megaman smiled and gave a thumbs-up as he jacked in, disappearing from the PET screen and reappearing inside of the food stand site, a large arena that looked like a flat surface covered in green and yellow tiles, under a strange green sky that had some weird spiral motives instead of clouds, moving in regular formations across the air. In front of him, Woodman had already taken his place at the other end of the site, cracking his knuckles in order to show that he was ready for the battle.

"Well met, Megaman." The large Net-Navi said, smiling at Megaman. "I'm going to test you and your operator's skills, so we can be sure whether you can take on the WWW. Are you ready?"

Megaman took a battle stance, his arm turning into the Mega Buster as he took aim. "Ready whenever you are, Woodman! Let's go!"

"And we're starting out strong, Megaman!" Lan exclaimed. "First off… Hi-Cannon Battle Chip In, Download!"

Megaman's Buster arm turned into a blue cannon and fired a blast of energy at Woodman, who was not quick enough to dodge and was hit head-on. However, he was bulky and strong enough not to flinch when he was hit by that, and managed to remain upright, taking just a step backwards. Immediately after that, the massive Wood-Type Navi jumped out and landed with a loud crash, bringing both his hands to the ground… and causing a series of Wood Towers to simply pop out of the ground, one of them being dangerously close to Megaman! The blue Net-Navi was propelled backwards and tumbled to the ground for a short distance, but was soon able to pick himself up and fire a few shots from his Mega Buster, forcing Woodman back some.

"Hmm, this is going to be a very hard match, I can tell that already!" Sal commented, never once losing her winning smile. "Let's see how you handle yourself now… Wood Tower Battle Chip in, Download!"

Woodman raised one of his massive fists and brought it down, causing a series of sharpened wooden spikes to sprout out of the ground, travelling in a straight line towards Megaman. The blue Net-Navi stood his ground, waiting for the wooden spikes to get close, and then jumped sideways just in time when the spikes sprouted up from under him.

"Well done, Megaman! Now, let's step things up!" Lan exclaimed. "Heater Battle Chip in, Download!"

Megaman's Mega Buster morphed quickly and fired a small firewall at Woodman, hitting him head on and causing Sal to widen her eyes in alarm. As a Wood element Net-Navi, Woodman was especially weak to Fire-based attacks, and it showed as the huge Net-Navi staggered backwards, roaming in anger and trying to put out the flames on his armor.

"Nice job, Lan! It worked like a charm!" Megaman commented. "This time, we've put a nice dent in his armor!"

"A simple yet effective tactic, I must say I'm pretty impressed." Sal commented. "But if you think I'm going to just stand here and let Woodman take your attacks, I'm afraid you are mistaken! Do your thing, Woodman!"

"Right away, Sal!" the large Net-Navi said, firing another slow-moving Wood Tower at Megaman, who quickly dodged the blow… but this gave Woodman all the time he needed to use another unexpected attack: he threw a seed in the air, causing it to land on the ground close to him… and soon, a small tree was born from it, producing a succulent red apple on one of its branches. Unexpectedly, Woodman reached out to the tree, grabbed the apple out of the branches, and ate it, recovering from all damage under Megaman's surprised eyes!

"Oh great..." Lan muttered to himself, mentally cursing at this sudden turn of events so that means they will need to come up with another strategy if they would be able to prove themselves against Sal and Woodman but at least they know Fire is his weakness and the truly devastating move their opponents have is the Wood Tower which apparently seems to be the thing to worry about the most right now. "We gotta at least try a new combination... but we'll wait till the right moment."

"Alright, just let me know when you're ready" Megaman replied back and got ready to continue the battle as Woodman jumped up, fully rejuvenated then unleashed a powerful Wood Tower headed their way.

"AreaSteal and Sword, Battle Chips in, download!" Lan quickly slotted in the two Battle Chips, allowing Megaman to vanish from the path of the Wood Towers then slashed right at Woodman when he least expected it though not as powerful as the Heater from before, at least it was able to do some descent damage. "Shotgun Battle Chip in!"

Megaman's sword was replaced by a weapon resembling his Mega Buster and fired multilple rounds of laser fire which Woodman blocked with his arms crossed over his chest; both were starting to see why Sal was a really skilled Net-Battler against the WWW and anyone else they possibly battled before them.

As they were watching, Lan's friends were in awe at how strong Sal and Woodman were, especially by how docile she seemed on the outside while on the inside, she proved to be one hell of a team in Net-Battles and otherwise. "So this is what Sal is truly capable of..." began Mayl, unsure of what to make of all this but at the same time is worried for Lan and Megaman, sure fighting against members of the WWW was one thing but battling someone who seemed to be even more powerful than any member they fought was an entirely different story. "Just hope Lan knows what he was dealing with by accepting this challenge."

"Well he better not lose!" added Dex, not liking to see Lan or Megaman losing to anyone else as he and Gutsman needed to be the ones who beat them. "Especially he and I made a vow since that incident with Stoneman at the Metroline."

Yai sighed, then glared at the larger boy. "Vow? More like you previously made Lan get you a Recovery Battle Chip from Mayl's house and then and him battle you in order to gain access to your PC in order to resolve the problem Stoneman caused" she resorted, reminding Dex that the two girls were still made at him and Gutsman for making Lan and Megaman go through all this, even nearly getting Lan in trouble with Mayl that day.

Remaining silent, Shuko listened to the remark that Yai made and Dex cringing a bit due to still not being off the hook for what happened, though there were bigger problems to worry about for the time being such as finding out what happened to Tory and why there is suddenly no water at the entire town. "Now that I think of it, doesn't it seem strange there is a car that is parked in front of the school and no one seemed to be noticing it let alone the fact the owner had yet to come back for their vehicle?" she silently commented, getting the attention of Dex, Yai and Mayl for a brief moment.

"A car?" asked Yai, knowing that none of their respective families have a car parked in front of ACDC elementary school while her own family the Ayanokojis own a limo due to being rich and her father having a rather successful business to boot, which got them to thinking that it was indeed strange for anyone not to even tow it away. "Now that you think of it, that is weird."

"I'll say..." added Mayl, she and Roll were at a loss of words themselves as were the others by the sidelines while they would need to investigate the matter once the Waterworks situation is resolved, it may have to wait until Lan's match with Sal is concluded and from the way they are seeing, the green-haired woman never lost her cool when Woodman was previously injured by Megaman's Heater as that apple healed her Net-Navi was if he was never injured to begin with. "We'll have to speak with Lan and Sal on that when it match is over."

"Let's just hope Lan and Mega could at least survive this onslaught" said Roll, concerned for Megaman's well being since the Blue Bomber was fighting a Net-Agent, a Net-Battler with the specific task of keeping the cyberworld safe from any threats to it. "I can't stomach the thought of him actually..."

"Don't say that Roll" Mayl tried to do her best to reassure her Navi that Sal has no intention of deleting Megaman since this was just a friendly battle, but that didn't mean she was going to hold anything back as it wouldn't be in her to do such and it would mean this is going to take more than just what Lan learned from Virus Busting classes to survive this. "You'll see, Megaman and Lan will somehow pull through in the end... I hope..."

Roll remained silent, slowly nodding her head as if Mayl's words made her somewhat better and focused back on the match as Megaman was having a really difficult time against Woodman with Lan understanding why Sal is a Net-Agent for a reason, biting his lower lip while reflecting on his previous battles with Fireman, Numberman and Stoneman respectively which were hard as hell battles too unlike his matches with Dex and Gutsman but unlike the matches with Dex. they had high stakes where had he lost, not only would Megaman have been deleted but the WWW would have taken over countless times over. He even at one point considered using the Program Advance against Woodman much like how it helped him take Stoneman down but decided not to do so since he wanted to wait for the right moment or if he has no other alternative.

"I have to say Lan, you are actually the first Net-Battler who actually lasted this long against Woodman... normally any other opponent would have been defeated right from the start" said Sal, giving another bright smile while holding her PET. "However, there is more than one way to skin a cat so to speak."

Lan and Megaman didn't like the sound of this and had a feeling they needed to do something fast before it happens yet Woodman had not given them an option. "Take this!" yelled the Wood Based Net-Navi pounded both fists onto the ground, causing Wood Towers to form around Megaman, faster than he could react... barely dodging several of them, didn't help that they were actually popping out of every place he landed on until one actually scored a direct hit.

"MEGAMAN!" exclaimed Lan, seeing how badly hurt his partner was from that Wood Tower before he hit the ground hard... Even his friends were shocked to see what had just occurred, one more hit like that and it's over so he had to hurry. "Recovery300, Battle Chip in, downloading now!"

The Recovery Chip managed to do its job, healing Megaman from the critical damage he received, making Lan glad he still had it with him since the whole onslaught of viruses that Stoneman had sent at them before but they needed to be more careful than ever. "You okay?" he asked, hoping that it would also help him regain consciousness faster and was relieved to see his Net-Navi getting back up.

"Yeah, I think so..." replied the Blue Bomber, managing to get back onto his feet though slowly due to still being banged up, at least he was able to continue fighting and yet, that Wood Tower that actually hit him... it proved powerful enough to delete him though Woodman held back since neither he nor Sal would delete any innocent Net-Navis but would damage them enough to make them log out as opposed to malicous viruses or Heel-Navis. "Just what are we up against? This guy's at an entirely different level than the WWW Navis."

Lan nodded his head, he hated to say this... his partner was right so needed to step up their game and hit hard in order to make a proper comeback. "Don't remind me... still, there's no way in hell we are going to give up not when we have a friend to help" he said, knowing that they have to find Tory and get the water back for the entire city. "In any case, let's show Sal that even a civilian Net-Battler can prove themselves to a Net-Agent."

"Yeah..." he replied back to his human friend, they were more than willing to prove themselves than ever and with the risks at hand, there was no way they could back down let alone lose this one so a smart combination would be their best chance to end this battle, provided they get the chance to come up with such, one screw up and it would result in their defeat.

The others were all silent, they wondered what Lan is going to do now as he was only lucky that he had the Recovery Battle Chip at hand, especially in tight situations like this but whatever he would come up with... they need to make it count otherwise, they rather not think of what will happen let alone imagine it.

"Lan..." Mayl silently whispered, having her hand where her heart was... without anyone baring witness to that but at the same time, there was something about the red-haired girl's expression that showed she was concerned for her childhood friend and neighbor, knowing Roll had similar thoughts when it came to Megaman.

"I see... you really are a persistent one Lan, unfortunately Woodman and I need to end this battle right now" commented Sal, closing her eyes and feeling that they needed to unleash their finishing move, though brown-haired male operator had an idea and while it was risky, it was their best bet at winning.

"It's now or never Megaman" said Lan, hoping that his Navi would agree with this plan and needed his full attention in order to quickly tell him before Sal can make her move especially as he had the chips they could use in order to make this work out, provided they have the right timing and combination. "Trust me on this and hear me out, we're running out of options as it is..."

"I'm ready, Lan! I know we can do this!" Megaman answered, getting ready for Woodman's next attack as the large Wood-Type Navi surrounded himself with several floating leaves that orbited around his massive body, acting as a group of shields. "I hope you have an idea to get rid of those shields as well."

"I think so. Just trust me on this one, okay, Megaman?" Lan answered with a thumbs-up. As Woodman reared back and punched the ground, unleashing yet another group of Wood Towers, Lan motioned for Megaman to stay where he was and wait for the attack to get closer… and closer…

"What's Lan doing? Why doesn't he have Megaman dodge?" Shuko asked in alarm. "If Megaman gets hit now, he loses the battle without a doubt!"

"I don't know what he's thinking… but I'm pretty sure he has something in mind!" Mayl answered, keeping her fingers crossed and hoping Lan really knew what he was doing.

"C'mon, Lan and Megaman! You defeated us, so you can't afford to get beaten so easily, ya know?" Dex exclaimed, clapping his hands while Gutsman frowned slightly, hoping Megaman won't be defecate as well as he was the one who wanted to beat Megaman in a friendly competition one day.

The Wood Towers were only a few paces away when Lan took out his next Battle Chip and quickly slotted i tinto his PET. "Alright, now is the moment! Invisibility Battle Chip in… Download!" he exclaimed. As soon as the Battle Chip was in, Megaman's body flickered and became translucent, and the Wood Tower went right through him as if he was made of vapor, leaving him completely unharmed! Smiling, Megaman rushed forward towards the surprised Woodman, who tried to step back only for the faster Megaman to get close in a few moments… and just then, Megaman inserted another battle chip!

"Now! Fire Tower Battle Chip in! Download!" the young boy exclaimed. Megaman's right hand began glowing red, and he placed it on the ground right in front of Woodman, and a powerful blast of fire in the form of a huge column erupted from the ground, striking Woodman head-on and burning the Leaf Shield to nothing! The massive Net-Navi only had time to widen his eyes in surprise before the Fire Tower took him down, and he disappeared in a shower of luminous pixels!

WOODMAN LOGGING OUT

* * *

><p>As Woodman returned to his PET, rubbing his head in amazement, Megaman breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to his Net-Op and gave him a thumbs-up, all the while the rest of Lan's friends either cheered for his victory or breathed a sigh of relief. "Well… looks like I did it, Lan! It wasn't easy… but your strategy was simple yet effective!" he stated.<p>

"It was a really tough battle… but I'm glad we were able to do it together, Megaman!" Lan answered, before turning to Sal and Woodman. "Phew… I must say, Sal, you are a great Net-Battler! Megaman and I really had to pull out all the stops in that one!"

"Thank you, Lan! My apologies for being a little rough, but I was sure you two needed some serious training if you are to go up against WWW." Sal answered, before reaching into her vest and living Lan three Battle Chips. "Here. Use these when you face the WWW Navi that is causing this water crisis. I know you are strong and skilled enough to use them to their greatest potential. I hope they will be of use to you when you go up against your new enemies… and believe me, it's going to be hard."

"Thank you, Sal…" Lan said, taking a look at the three Battle Chips. "Hmm… Wood Tower, SnakeEgg1, and Leaf Shield, right? Well… I'm sure they will be useful! Thank you very much, we feel ready to take on the WWW and put an end to this water crisis."

"Just be careful when getting ready to sneak into the Water Works, it would be ill advised to do so right now as the elevator to inside the building won't work without a specific ID... especially if you're not an Official Net-Agent like myself" suggested Sal, which made sense as there was still people working there at the time being and it was then that she smiled before continuing. "We'll wait until 12pm, since it's a Saturday, everyone will be heading home at that time."

"Good idea" replied Lan, he and the others needed to be ready for when 12pm comes so it would make, getting into the Water Works easier than if they were to do so immediately plus the brown-haired young man had an idea of a place they could hide at until then. "I think I have an idea that could help hide us until 12pm" He then got together with the group and told them what he had in mind.

* * *

><p>Inside the Waterworks, Chaud was interrogating the woman that was at the counter and he seemed to be somewhat disappointed that he couldn't learn more of what is going on despite his high ranking status as an Official but never the less he explained his reasons for being at the building itself. "Therefore, a check of the Water Works and network is needed..." he explained to the female recipient.<p>

"You're an official Net-Battler right? Very well then..." she replied to him with a slight nod of her head, understanding it must be an important matter. "If you could show me your ID card please..."

Remaining silent, Chaud revealed his ID to signify that he was indeed an official. "I see..." she spoke, examining the card to see it is authentic and after a few seconds, she nodded to him. "Insert your ID card to use the elevator. It will take you around the works automatically."

"Thank you" responded Chaud, heading for the elevator and scanned his ID card near the door in order to be granted access to the work... whatever was causing the problem with the water, he'll make sure that they're dealt with as swiftly as possible. However when he had arrived at the Government Complex... he noticed a group of kids near a lunch stand, not that he cared, they'd just be in the way never the less. _Unfortunately, it would be too much of a hassle if I acted right away, for now we'll wait till 12pm as soon as every heads home._

With that in mind, he and Protoman planned out their plan of attack as they waited until noon to begin their investigation and nothing will stand in their way.

* * *

><p>Soon it was 12pm and as expected, everyone at Sci-Labs and the Water Works were heading back to their homes, that is... Everyone except Lan and his friends, who were all gathered together at the office of Lan's father Dr. Yuchiro Hikari, as the younger man had found a lab smock with his father's ID on it, knowing that it would be a great way for them to gain access to the Water Works' elevator. "There, that should do it" said Lan, having carefully snipped the ID from the labcoat.<p>

"That's actually a pretty clever move Lan" began Sal, smiling brightly and believed this could help them out in stopping this crisis. "I've already spoken with Commander Beef and he seemed to be surprised that we are being assisted in this mission."

The others remained silent as none of them have ever heard about this Commander Beef person, though had a feeling that he was a Net-Agent himself and Sal's superior in a way. "So, who exactly is this Commander Beef?" wondered Lan, somewhat curious to learn about whoever this guy was but wanted to at least stay focused on the task at hand.

"I can't tell you too much, all I can say is he is a very powerful Net-Agent, even more so than me and a fellow Agent combined" she replied, she had secrets that she needed to keep after all which Lan understood, which made alot of sense due to her own status. "In any case, I've spoken with Dr. Froid earlier at the Water Works concerning why ACDC's Water Supply having come to an abrupt stop before you kids arrived at the Government Complex, he said there was a bug in the pump's program and they're doing their best to remove it as quickly as possible..."

Lan and his friends found it rather off that Dr. Froid said that there was a bug in the pump's program, if it were true then there wouldn't be any need for Sal to still be here and it wasn't just water that is missing... more so as Froid never mentioned that his only son Tory being missing to the green-haired woman either. "This isn't going to be easy to fix..." commented Lan, placing a finger on his chin in deep thought. "Now that I think of it, was Tory with him?"

"Who?"

"He's a friend of ours from school, he's also Dr. Froid's son. However, we haven't seem him at school in a while, and we fondere where he might have gone." answered Mayl, explaining to Sal about their friend Tory and if the older woman didn't see him then something was indeed suspicious when Froid had previously mentioned that the problem was the cause of a simple bug in the program.

"Now that you make me think about it… no, I didn't see anyone with him." Sal answered. "Maybe we need to look into that too… it is rather strange that Waterworks is having this much trouble, and the son of one of its foremost operators hasn't been seen around. I'm beginning toh ave some suspicions about it."

"Suspicions? You mean that… he might have been kidnapped by the WWW?" Dex asked in surprise.

"Yes, that's exactly what I am implying." Sal answered. "I'm beginning to think that the WWW might be holding Dr. Froid's son hostage, and is forcing Dr. Froid to halt the functioning of the water pump. We need to confirm that, if this is the case… I wouldn't want to put the kid in danger."

"Ms. Sal? I… I think I could go take a look myself…" Shuko ventured, timidly raising her hand.

Everyone turned to the shy blue-haired girl, who rubbed her head in a flustered gesture, her eyes wandering to the floor. "I… I mean, it's not like WWW knows me, I have only been around for a short while… and maybe I won't attract their attention." She explained. "I… I think he might not be that far away either. Maybe, before I go, we can find some clues in the Waterworks' system, if we ask nicely?"

"You mean, to the Mr. Progs running the system?" Sal asked, thinking about what Shuko had just said. She had to admit, the blue-haired girl did have a point – if they managed to find out where Tory was, maybe quite a few things would make more sense than they did now. And perhaps, the Mr. Progs might have a few answers for them, or at least clues of where to look next. "Hmm… it is worth a try. Everyone, we need to jack in into the system and see if we can find a few more pointers. Are you ready, everyone? There are probably viruses running around, so be prepared."

"Yes, we are!" Lan exclaimed with a firm nod. "Everyone, are you in for this?"

"Let's do this, Lan!" Megaman continued.

"Okay… we're going to give this a try!" Mayl said, taking out her PET. "Everybody, we're getting in! Prepare for everything!"

"Of course!" Dex answered. "Jack-in, Gutsman!"

"Glyde!"

"Roll!"

"Megaman!"

"Woodman!"

"Aquaman!"

* * *

><p>Every single member of the small team of Net-Ops jacked in to the control console in front of them, and their Net-Navi appeared in the WaterWorks net… a large, seemingly hollow space in which the floor consisted of large green platforms linked together by water pipes the size of bridges, under a black sky in which several white snowflakes motifs were floating. The Net-Navis immediately noticed that several chunks of the platforms were covered in solid ice, and some of the bridges were as well…<p>

"Funny... it's frozen here and there..." commented Megaman, being the first to examine the area that they were in and having a bad feeling that something was rather off aside from what they were already witnessing when they first Jacked into the Water Works' network. "Yet there's no Navis or programs anywhere..."

"Yeah, in any case we better go see what's wrong with the water supply program" explained Lan, having a feeling that there is more to it than just what they have recently discovered. "Just be careful out there... the ice is slippery and you won't want to fall and break your neck."

"I'll keep that in mind" began Megaman though it was easier said than done as Roll had a hard time even standing on the area she was on and slipped, fortunately the blue-bomber managed to catch her on time. "Gotcha!"

Needless to say, Mayl's Navi found herself blushing slightly as she was in Megaman's arms with Gutsman having a jealous expression on his face when he saw that. "Thanks Mega..." she said to Lan's Navi, using her nickname for him.

Gutsman was about to retaliate when Glyde spoke up in his usual gentleman voice "I hate to interrupt but shouldn't we be focused on the task at hand?" he asked, reminding the two there's work to be done in order to resolve the situation. "You won't have to worry about me by any means, Yai has supplied me with Battle Chips, I assure you that I am quite ready for anything."

"If you say so..." Megaman wasn't sure what else to say, though if he is able to be prepared for anything that the WWW can throw at him then who is he to argue? Then again while Lan, Mayl, Dex, Yai and Shuko were good at Virus Busting, fighting enemy Net-Navis was way different than classes as in class if you mess up at something, you can try again later but against an entire criminal organization like the WWW, it is a matter of life and death. "Is something the matter Aquaman?"

"Oh?" came Aquaman's voice, the smaller Net-Navi did seem a bit nervous ever since they were jacked into the system as if like Shuko, he didn't want to either become a burden to the group or give them any of the bad luck that the two have had. "I'm just worried..."

"About what?"

"Well... you remember how Shuko and I have bad luck no matter where we go" said Aquaman with a sad expression on his face, more so reflecting on what had happened with the two even before they met Lan and his friends. "We really don't want to cause you to get affected by it or worse..."

"You worry too much you know that?" Roll tried to be as reassuring as possible, it wasn't just to Aquaman but to Shuko as well as while becoming friends with the group made the two feel a little better but they were fearing that something cause some trouble. "You and Shuko shouldn't be so hard on yourselves, we make our on luck and if we can fix the Water Works' program then maybe it could make a huge difference in your lives."

"Roll's right, besides it's like me keeping Lan out of trouble most of the time" added Mayl, giving a bright smile to Shuko while Lan felt a bit embarrassed at the fact Mayl even mentioned the times she had to keep him from getting into too much trouble even as little kids. "He and I have been neighbor and friends since childhood."

"Is this true?" asked Shuko, a bit surprised by this and had no idea that Lan and Mayl knew each other for that long, she will ask more about that when this is all over.

"Of course, while he is more into Net-Battles and seems to be more interested in Virus Busting than homework, I am usually there for him regardless" answered Mayl, responding with another smile which surprised Shuko even more. "I'm sure everything will be fine once the water is working again."

The blunette nodded her head, glancing at the red-haired girl with them but for the first time, she began giving her first real smile. "I hope you're right..." she began, speaking in her soft tone despite feeling a little better about.

"Yeah, me too" said Mayl, since it wasn't just the fact that they have to get the Water Works' program working properly again but the fact that they need to find their friend Tory wherever the WWW is holding him and make sure that his father knows he is alright, more so if they are behind the situation the building is having then they'll probably be in for one hell of a fight to come if their previous battles with Fireman, Numberman and Stoneman prior were a foreshadowing of things to come. "Let's get going, we won't be able to get anything done by just standing around here."

"Mayl is right, we should get closer to the main part of the Waterworks net." Megaman answered, guiding the team towards an elevated plaza whose surface was covered in thin ice. Several of the Net-Navis had to balance themselves in order not to slip, but Aquaman seemed to be quite at ease walking on the slippery surface, which didn't seem to affect him at all.

"Whoa! Darn, this ice is living Gutsman trouble!" Gutsman exclaimed, losing his footing and clumsily landing face first on the icy platform, with a dull thud! Shaking his head, the large Net-Navi picked himself up, with Megaman living him a hand in doing so. "Ow, ow, owww… Gutsman didn't like that! But why is little Aquaman not slipping, guts?"

"Well… us Aqua-type Net-Navis aren't affected by ice!" Aquaman answered shyly. "We can walk on frozen terrain and not even lose balance, so I hope I will be useful with that, if nothing else!"

"Don't worry about that, Aquaman, I'm sure you can more than hold your own!" Roll said with a wink. The pink-clad female Navi was floating a few inches off the ground, in order not to be impaired by the slippery ice. "By the way… we should be getting closer to the mainframe. That should be the place where the program block of Waterworks is located. If we can get some Mr. Progs to tell us what's going on, we can solve the problem!"

"Let's see… Glyde, can you make a scan of the area?" Yai asked her Net-Navi, who quickly nodded in assent and concentrated, using his built-in sensors to scan the proximity. After a few seconds, the butler Net-Navi frowned slightly and turned to the rest of the team, informing them on what he had discovered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that there are several hostiles ahead of us, guarding what appears to be the program block that keeps the water from flowing, and several frozen Mr. Progs." Glyde answered. "My database identifies them as Swordy3 and ColdHead Types. Elec-Type Battle Chips would be highly advised in this endeavor." he said.

Yai smirked a little. "So, the WWW thinks they can stop us with some measly Aqua-type viruses? Heh, how pedestrian of them! I, Yai Ayanokoji, shall teach them a lesson they shall never forget!"

"Yeah, but… it is kinda worrying that there are some viruses here, where the security is supposed to be top-notch." Roll commented.

Megaman nodded in assent. "You're right, Roll… unless they had backup from someone with access to security, they can't have found their way in… but I guess we'll think about that later!" he said, as the viruses popped up from seemingly nowhere as soon as they approached the central area. The whole place was covered in ice, including the small Mr. Progs that used to run the place… and only the viruses seemed to be mobile as the Swordy3, a group of viruses that resembled small floating critters wearing a blue-green armor, wielding a sword made of blue fire in their right hands, floated towards them. Along with them was a group of ColdHeads, strange immobile viruses that looked like some sort of blue-white Pac-Man, with a nasty expression on their faces and anchored to the ground by a metal pod.

"You're right, Megaman… I guess it's time to do some damage here!" Dex answered, smirking in satisfaction at the prospect of a good fight. "What do you say, Gutsman?"

"Gutsman says… bring it on, ya lousy viruses, GUTS!" he exclaimed, using his massive fists to punch a Swordy3 that had dashed in for an attack, and shattering it into bits of harmless data!

"Alright then, Guts Hammer Battle Chip in!" grinned Dex, slotting in one of his most useful Battle Chips into his PET and it turned Gutsman's fists into hammers much like when the two had previously fought Lan and Megaman twice before at school and at Dex's home respectively, Dex and his Navi want to show how strong they can be in combat. "Downloading now! Let's go get them Gutsman!"

"Guts... GUTS!" With that, Gutsman slammed the two hammers onto the ground to take out a dozen Swordy3 viruses but the ColdHeads are going to be more difficult to delete since as long as they took the attack but no damage was done on them. "What the?! Why these viruses not harmed by our attack?"

"I was afraid of this..." began Sal with a frown on her face, since she was familiar with these kind of Viruses, being the second strongest kind of HardHead in existence and like any other HardHead, they are nearly invulnerable to any kind of attack that hits them. "HardHeads in general are immune to all kinds of attacks used against them as long as their mouths are closed so we need to wait until their mouths are open before we can strike... Be warned though, these ColdHeads not only have the fastest firing rate of any HardHead, but their attacks can actually freeze the ground,, making it harder to stand let alone fight."

"Great, just what we didn't need..." muttered Lan, mentally cursing as the small group of ColdHeads started to wobble and then their mouths snapped open to reveal a small cannon within their respective throats, targeting the others before opening fire. "Barrier Battle Chip in, Download!"

Lan's quick thinking kept the group protected from the cannonballs fired by the ColdHeads, who then immediately snapped their mouths shut in order to protect themselves from any counterattacks used against them. "This is getting ridiculous, how are we suppose to take these viruses out if they are invunerable with their mouths closed?" demanded Dex, hating that they don't have a means of taking the ColdHeads out, even more so as the Swordy3s would keep them safe in case the group is somehow able to get a clear shot against them.

"There may be one thing we could do..." answered Sal, thinking about it for a brief moment then recalled that the ColdHeads do have a weakness since they would most likely be of the Aqua Element despite their usual invulnerability to any attacks. "However, it is a risky move but it requires us to split into three groups... One to keep the ColdHeads preoccupied to make them open their mouths, one to take out the Swordy3 and one to take out the ColdHeads and thaw out the Mr. Progs."

The group was surprised that Sal had come up with such a plan, though it might be their only chance in saving the Mr. Progs right now and with the ColdHeads protected by the Swordy3 along with their invunerability while their mouths were closed... they'll need to act fast. "Alright, we'll be ready whenever you are" said Mayl, being the first of the group to speak and Shuko silently nodded her head in agreement if Aquaman is up to it himself.

"In that case, Team A will be made up of me and Dex to keep the Swordy3 viruses preoccupied, Lan and Mayl, you two will be part of Team B... your job is to take out the ColdHeads as soon as their mouths snap open and Team C will be made up of Shuko and Yai" explained Sal, hoping that the group would be able to go along with the plan and what she had in mind to make it work out in their favor. "Team C's task is to distract the ColdHeads so that the viruses in question would have their mouths open and try to fire at Aquaman and Glyde, that's where Team B will make their move to delete the ColdHeads, if I am right then their weakness would be Battle Chips of the Elec Element."

"Understood... now that I think of it..." Mayl quickly realized something, turning her attention towards Lan and remembered that her childhood friend at least has a Battle Chip that can take out a ColdHead in one move when they get the signal to make their move. "Lan, you still have that ElecSword Battle Chip right?"

"Yeah, I believe I do!" added Lan, checking his pouch to make sure that he did bring the ElecSword Battle Chip and he was fortunate enough that it was among the Battle Chips he brought to help them against Aqua based opponents like these viruses. "There is it!"

"Okay, then. Please, Mr. Aquaman, follow my lead." Glyde said, and Aquaman timidly nodded as the two Net-Navis dashed in and out of the ColdHead viruses' range. The strange viruses began to shake, and their eyes opened, delivering a dark glare to the two Net-Navis, then a small cannon popped out of their mouths and fired a blast at Glyde and Aquaman. Luckily, both of them were prepared and managed to step out of the way, as the bullets struck the ground and covered it in a thick crust of ice!

"Now, Megaman!" Lan exclaimed. "AreaSteal and ElecSword Battle Chips in! Download!"

Megaman smiled and quickly flash-stepped in front of the ColdHeads before they could raise their defenses up again. His hand quickly turned into a wide blade, crackling with electricity, and he delivered a powerful swing to the ColdHeads, instantly breaking them up in countless shards of data!

"Two down!" Megaman said, raising the electric sword in front of his face and living a confident smile.

"Well done, Megaman!" Roll exclaimed. Aquaman fired a blast of water at another ColdHead, not doing any damage but still managing to annoy the virus into making a bold move… and the pink Net-Navi and her operator were quick to capitalize on that mistake! "Mayl, that virus is about to fire! Can you send me a Battle Chip?"

"Already on it, Roll!" the fuchsia-haired preteen. "Thunder1 Battle Chip in, Download!"

Roll nodded and fired a bolt of lightning through the ground, which sped towards the ColdHead and reached it right at the moment where it opened its mouth! A powerful discharge coarse through the virus, who dissolved into nothingness about a moment later!

"This is working, everyone! Let's keep at it!" Yai exclaimed, as Glyde and Aquaman continued their disturbante and fired back a few shots themselves. Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't slide on ice, Aquaman placed himself on a puddle of ice and tricked another ColdHead into firing at him, which the virus complied to. The small Aqua-type Navi doge immediately, and Shuko acted quickly before the ColdHead could close its mouth.

"T-TriArrow… Battle Chip in! Download!" the blue-haired girl exclaimed. Aquaman's left arm transformed into a crossbow of sorts, and he fired a volley of arrows straight at the Aqua-type virus, all of them finding their mark and destroying it! "Wow, I… I can't believe it, we… we actually deleted that virus?"

"Told you, Shuko! You just need more confidence!" Aquaman exclaimed excitedly. "Speaking of which… how are the others doing?"

"We're doing great here! These stupid viruses don't have any cheap armor to save them!" Dex exclaimed with a cocky smirk, before sending Gutsman another Battle Chip. "Hammer Battle Chip in, Download!"

"Now Gutsman will clobber you, guuuuuuts!" the large Net-Navi exclaimed as a huge war hammer appeared in his hands, and he swung it with all of his might against a Swordy3 virus that seemed to be about to slash him with its sword made of blue flames. The mighty blow shattered the virus, turning it into a shower of inert data, but another one flash-stepped at Gutsman's side and struck with a sideways slash from its rapier! "Aaaaargh! That hurt! Now Gutsman hurt you back!" he roared, and then punched the Aqua-type virus in the face, destroying it!

"Take care of what you're doing, Dex and Gutsman!" Sal answered in alarm. Woodman was holding his own against three of the sword-wielding viruses, keeping them at bay with a series of WoodTower attacks that had just deleted one of them. Another one attempted to flank the huge Wood-type Net-Navi and delivered a powerful two-handed slash… but Sal managed to notice the attempt just in time to counter it! "Woodman, be careful! Use LeafShield, now!"

Woodman was quickly surrounded by a bunch of circling green leaves, each one of them about as large as a human hand, and blocked the attack! Then, the green-haired girl nodded in confidence, and inserted another Battle Chip. "Nice job, Woodman. And now… SnakeEgg1 Battle Chip in, Download!"

"Right away, Sal!" the huge Net-Navi exclaimed, before placing a strange green egg on the ground. The egg immediately cracked open and released a green snake that darted unerringly towards one of the Swordy3 viruses, before striking it with a vicious bite and squeezing it! The armored virus fell to the ground and struggled for a little in the snake's coils before surrendering and shattering into a shower of colorful data, and Sal smiled gently before turning her glance at the rest of the battle. The tactic was working, as Megaman and Roll, thanks to the timely assistance of both Lan and Mayl, were deleting the ColdHead viruses one by one. The last one of the viruses was deleted by a well-placed ElecSword slash from Megaman just as it was about to fire, with Roll and Aquaman cheering him on.

"Looks like that was all of them." Glyde answered. "Now, to solve the other problem. We need to thaw out the Mr. Progs who were frozen here. Miss Yai, would you do the honors?"

The pig-tailed little heiress of the Ayanokoji financial empire smirked, and her large forehead gleamed almost audibly. "Why, Glyde, you should know I am always ready to do the honors!" she said as the butler Navi placed himself closet o the frozen Mr. Progs. Yai motioned for Lan and the others to wait as she searched into her Battle Chip folder, and then nodded confidently as she pulled out a Fire-type Battle Chip depicting a red bird-like Fishy2 virus. "Now, ladies and gentlemen… please stand back from Glyde if you don't wanna be burned! BodyBurn Battle Chip in! Download!"

As soon as the rich little heiress placed the chip into her PET, a fiery aura engulfed Glyde and spread around him, quickly warming up the place! Megaman and the other Net-Navis stood back in awe, watching the flames spread around Glyde in a contained aura… and the blocks of ice that were holding the Mr. Progs quickly melted, turning into puddles of water, and releasing the small green programs inside of them! One of them shuddered in cold and relief at the same time, looking at the group of Net-Navis while Glyde's BodyBurn attack powered down, and the flames disappeared as if they had never been there in the first place.

"It's okay now!" Megaman greeted the Mr. Progs, raising his hand in greeting. "We managed to destroy those viruses… you're free now!"

"Thank you…" the first Mr. Prog said in gratitude. With a small sigh of relief, he gathered all the other Mr. Progs around himself, and began explaining the situation. "The water supply for ACDC Town was halted because of this glaciation… Dr. Froid and his Net-Navi Iceman were forced to do this by the WWW!"

"Those criminals kidnapped little Tory!" another Mr. Prog continued, confirming Lan and his friends' fear. "They are holding him hostage to blackmail them into ruining the water… and forced him and Iceman to pollute the water supply and freeze it!"

"What?" Sal exclaimed in horror. "So… if anyone were to thaw out the system without taking out the polluting program beforehand… water would return to ACDC Town, but it would be poisonous!"

"That was one nasty plan they cooked up… it is just our luck that we found out about it before making a rash move." Megaman answered. "That's fine… but then, what do we do? Our first priority would be to rescue Tory and make sure WWW can't blackmail Dr. Froid anymore."

Shuko stood in silence for a while, pondering her choices… then, with a somewhat shaky voice, she ventured. "Everyone… what if I were to look for Tory and save him?" she said nervously.

"Are you sure about this Shuko?" asked Lan, he and the others were rather surprised by the fact that their new friend wished to be the only to look for Tory out of the everyone in the group. "Megaman and I could..."

"I appreciate the kind gesture but it is something Aquaman and I need to do ourselves..." answered Shuko in her somewhat timid voice, though being around her new friends from school was making her a little better and she isn't too keen on the fact the WWW kidnapped someone to force his father to do their bidding. "We also think there could be a place we can start looking too..."

There was silence from everyone as they were a bit concerned for Shuko but if she feels up for the task then they shouldn't keep her from going through with it. "Alright, just be careful Shuko and if anything happens let us know okay?" Mayl replied to the blunette, to which she silently nodded back before logging Aquaman out so they could leave the group to search for Tory.

"I will... Thanks..." she finally spoke before going on her way and it was then that Lan noticed that one of the deleted Swordy3 viruses dropped something on the ground so he turned his attention towards Megaman with a bit of curiousity.

"What is that Megaman?" he asked, somewhat interested in the data that was where they managed to take out one of the Swordy3 and the Blue Bomber was quick to analyse it, to their surprise the data was actually an AquaSword which Lan slotted into a blank Battle Chip in order to acquire the complete data on the newly acquired Sword. "No way, it's an AquaSword Battle Chip!"

"You know, you should be considered lucky right now" said Sal, getting the attention of the others as she gave a bright smile on her face then continued with what she has to say. "There are instances when deleted Viruses would leave data that could benefit both the Net-Op and Net-Navi in certain situations and while it doesn't happen often, it is helpful in getting stronger Battle Chips without needing to buy them at the store."

"We kinda learned about that at school, though some people don't pay attention to most of the details..." commented Yai, which made Lan feel a bit embarrassed while Megaman gave a small sigh since it was so like him especially as he tends to try and avoid the subject concerning his homework from Ms. Mari.

"In any case, it should come in handy in case we ever encounter any Fire based Viruses or Net-Navis at some point" added Mayl, knowing that the chances of it happening were nill since they are focusing on getting the Waterwork's water back in working order right now and it wouldn't make sense for ay Fire based enemies to show up in this area.

"Alright, let's get going!" said Dex, looking more and more eager to resolve the situation right now but that doesn't mean it will be easy for them since there could be more viruses waiting for them before they get the chance to get to where Froid was.

"Huh?" wondered Roll, having a feeling that she heard something as two shadowed silhouette went past the Navis from behind and looked to see what it was, only by the time she did so... the figures were already gone. "What was that?"

"Roll? Is something the matter?" began Mayl, hoping that it wasn't anything too serious but the pink Net-Navi gave a small sigh as it seemed she might be hearing things right now, praying silently that it wouldn't mess with their task.

"I could have sworn that I heard something" said Roll with a frown on her face, since it wouldn't be a Mr. Prog since they were initially frozen and wouldn't move this quickly plus they could rule out any viruses that they fought as they hadn't encountered such yet. "Maybe it was nothing, forget I ever said anything."

Megaman was concerned right now as was Mayl, it wouldn't be nothing if she heard something pass right by them without being noticed. "We should stay close everyone, odds are we might be watched by the WWW" he commented as they continued their way through the Waterworks Network though he found himself holding Roll's hand as they did so. "Are you sure it was nothing Roll?"

"Uh... yeah, don't worry about it Mega..." Roll found herself slightly flustered when she saw that Megaman was holding her hand but mentally told herself that they were still on a task so there would be time for affection later. "At least we'll be better prepared next time we see any ColdHeads."

"Maybe, still I doubt it would be nothing if you were the only one who heard it" he commented with a serious expression which meant sooner or later they'll need to fight the WWW Net-Navis that were behind this incident.

"Huh?"

It was then that the group saw a mysterious red Net-Navi nearby and they had a feeling that something was off about him, which was never a good sign for anyone. "Who is that?" asked Roll, having no idea on who he was and the children suspected that he might actually be a WWW Navi since it wasn't part of the Water Works.

"I don't know but we best not take any chances..." answered Megaman, though Woodman stopped him from making any hostile actions and it made them wonder what's up. Woodman? What are you..."

"He's not part of the WWW, Sal and I know who he is..." replied Woodman, knowing about other Net-Agents aside from him, Sal and Commander Beef himself, as they made their way towards this red Net-Navi as Sal was certain that it was none other than Protoman which meant that his operator would not be too far behind since they had a similar mission. "I'm not lying when I saw that he and his operator are just as strong as our superior."

"Who are you?" demanded Protoman with an emotionless expression on his face and the sword formed on his right arm since it was his default weapon of choice, having never seen Megaman, Roll, Gutsman and Glyde before nor has his operator Chaud, both having a feeling that they are either civilian Navis or agents of WWW but the latter was quickly discharged the moment they noticed that Woodman was with the group. "Woodman? What a surprise seeing you here..."

"Likewise..." responded Woodman, though Lan and the others save for Sal, who immediately knew who this Navi was and about his operator as well, was shocked at the fact that the two Net-Navis know each other which started to raise questions of their own.

"You and Woodman know that Navi?" wondered Lan in shock, though it wasn't for long until the red Net-Navi slashed at Megaman, who had little time to react before barely dodging the slash as if it was meant to delete him.

"Mega!" exclaimed Roll, going to Megaman's side and hoping that the attack hadn't done any serioud damage to him but from the looks of it... he was fine, at least for the time being. "You okay?"

"I think so..." answered Megaman with a frown as he managed to get back up, still he was rather pissed at the fact that if Protoman and Woodman recognize each other, then why the hell did the former try to delete him, having the Mega Buster armed then took aim at the hostile Navi. "What was that about?!"

"Consider that fair warning." Protoman said. "A civilian Net-Navi should not interfere in Official work. If you do, you'll be deleted."

"What? What are you saying? You can't just go around deleting people who get in your way!" Lan protested, not liking that guy's attitude one bit.

A screen opened up on Lan's PET, showing someone who Lan assumed – correctly, as it soon turned out – to be Protoman's Net-Op: he was a boy around Lan's age with short white hair hanging down over his forehead, and turning black around the sideburns and the back of his head. He had ice-blue eyes that regarded Lan with a cold, appraising stare, and was wearing a red sleeveless racket over a black long-sleeved shirt with yellow collar, as well as a pair of trousers with a green camouflage pattern and a pair of black shoes. "I could, and easily at that. Be thankful I did not order Protoman to attack with intent to delete." He said simply. "However, I do not have time for this. I'll deal with you later."

"Rather, I have one question, Chaud." Protoman said, obviously referring to his operator. "Woodman, what is the meaning of this? Why have you allowed these civilian Net-Navi access to an official operation?"

"I know it wasn't exactly part of the protocol, but the fact is, they were adamant about helping us, and Sal and I didn't think it would be a big deal if we allowed them to tag along." Woodman answered. "Sal and I even had a Net-Battle with Lan and Megaman in order to test their abilities. And, well, they turned out to be qualified, since they were a great help in disinfecting this net from viruses."

"You should have asked for permission to bring civilians along." Chaud answered firmly. "Well, there is no point in crying over split milk now." He paused for a moment, taking a look at Megaman and his operator, as he seemed to have noticed something interesting about the blue Net-Navi. "What is your name, by the way?"

"My name is Lan Hikari! And this is my Net-Navi and my best friend, Megaman!" Lan exclaimed hotly. "Now, would you mind telling us who you are?"

At the mention of the last name Hikari, Chaud seemed to blink in surprise, even though he outwardly remained aloof. Now that would seem like an interesting coincidence, as that kid had the same last name as the genius who had brought forth the birth of the Net in the first place… however, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. "The name is Eugene Chaud Blaze." The white-haired boy answered. "And this is my Net-Navi, Protoman. Do not get in our way again. Protoman!"

"Sir!" Protoman answered, before logging out of the server in a bright column of light.

Lan frowned angrily, annoyed at the other Net-Battler's attitude. "Seriously, what's with that guy?" he asked to no one in particular. "Getting all high and mighty because he's an Official!"

"Still, he wasn't being cocky for no reason, Lan." Megaman said, having paid attention to Protoman and the way he moved when he had dashed towards him. "That guy is a really skilled Net-Battler, and his Net-Navi is pretty powerful too. If we were to actually face them in battle, they'd give us a run for our money and more!"

"Still, no reason why they have the right to boss us around!" Dex exclaimed, just as angry about this whole business as his friend and rival, even Yai was not too happy about Chaud's threat to them herself. "Say, Sal, do you happen to know that jerk?"

The green-haired girl smiled slightly. "Well… pretty much everyone involved with the Officials knows Eugene Chaud Blaze. He's the ace Net-Battler of the Officials, and he and Protoman have deleted or imprisoned contless Net-Criminals over their career. You should take care of them, their fame is not at all exaggerated."

"We'll try to be careful then... " began Mayl, if Chaud and Protoman are actually as powerful as Sal says they are, it would be for the best to steer clear from the two despite the situation that the group still have to deal with right now. "You're not still angry about what happened earlier, are you Lan?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Lan, more so at the fact that Chaud had an attitude even if he was an official like Sal was, at least she was more down to Earth and wouldn't threaten any civilian Navis with deleting them for just trying to stop the WWW themselves. "Let's hope we don't run into them for a while."

"Lan, he's not worth it!" he heard Megaman trying to contact his operator via the PET's communications, seeing how furious the brown-haired young man was right now. "Besides getting mad will just make you thirstier... "

There was silence from Lan, taking what Megaman said into consideration and gave a small sigh right now. "You're right..." he commented after showing a defeated expression on his face then turned his attention towards the others. "Let's go!"

"Okay!"

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, the group was being spied on by one of the two WWW Net-Navis... the one they encountered last month after the defeat of Stoneman in the Metroline's Net-Work. "Damn... just what we didn't need..." commented the WWW Net-Navi known as Needleman. "Ms. Yuri, we might have a problem... those brats that ruined Lord Wily's WWW Reeducation Program and got in the way of Stoneman's mission at the Metroline are sticking their noses where they don't belong again along with that Net-Agent who intervened in both events."<p>

"Why am I not surprised?" came the voice of Ms. Yuri herself as the image of the female WWW Operator appeared on the Cyber-Network in order to properly interact with her Net-Navi, showing a darkened expression on her face as her eyes were hidden by the sunglasses that she was currently wearing. "I had a feeling that they would try to stop us again, only this time... they won't be so fortunate."

"I am so going to enjoy putting holes into those fools, provided that what lies ahead doesn't finish them off first..." grinned Needleman, gesturing to two certain Viruses that were awaiting to deal with Lan and his friends should they try to stop Froid from continuing to do WWW's bidding if he wants to see his only son again alive. "My Needle Cannon is my most lethal weapon and I intend to make good use of it against my foes."

"Patience Needleman, for now let's wait and see what happens" suggested Yuri, she too had her orders from Wily and won't rest until her mission is successful, even if things don't exactly go according as planned with this place. "The ColdBear2 and ColdBear3 will keep them preoccupied for a while, long enough for Maddy and I to complete our task."

"I see..." said Needleman, not liking the idea of doing nothing but watch again, but at least he will actually get the chance to face their foes should both ColdBear viruses be defeated, he is going to enjoy deleting the opposing Navis for good. "Then if the viruses fail, I can have my fun against those fools?"

"Yes, I am a woman of my word after all."

This news made Needleman grin even wider and his face showed that he is actually looking forward to it. "Thank you, I'm going to make good work against these brats one way or another" he spoke having his Needle Cannon armed and waited for when the real fun begins. "Soon they will know what real hell is like when they interfere with the WWW!"

* * *

><p>"Shuko, I think it's good that you volunteered to find Tory and help our new friends." Aquaman said from his PET. "However, there is a question I've been asking myself… Where do you plan on looking for him? Do you have any lead?"<p>

"To be honest… I'm afraid I don't…" Shuko murmured, rubbing the back of her head in a rather clumsy manner. "I was thinking he could be around here, somewhere… or maybe they took him away in a farther place! I mean, I was speaking on impulse, and I didn't really think…"

"Okay, okay… no need to get all worried about that, okay, Shuko?" Aquaman hastily said as the elevator they were on reached the bottom floor, and the sliding doors opened up with a faint noise. "We need to think about that… stop and think… if we were with the WWW, where would be put an hostage we want to blackmail his father with?"

"I… I would choose a place where… well… where nobody would think of looking!" Shuko said, sitting down on a nearby bench and trying to make her brain work. She could think of a lot of places where the WWW could have taken the kidnapped Tory, and searching through the whole town was definitely going to be a wild goose chase. If only they could have some lead of where to look. "Say, Aquaman… we don't even know how Tory looks like, right?"

"Don't worry about that, Shuko, I am sending a mail to Lan and the others right now." Aquaman said, completing a short message and sending it to their new friends. With a gesture, the small Aqua-Type Net-Navi made sure the message had gone through, and waited for the anise to arrive, which didn't take more than two minutes. "You have mail, Shuko! And it's an anise from Lan and the others!"

Shuko smiled shyly in relief. "Thank goodness… Can you open it up, Aquaman?" she asked, and her Aqua-Type Net-Navi nodded and opened the message, showing the image of a brown-haired and somewhat non-descript young boy, about Lan's age, with chocolate brown hair and a serious expression on his face, wearing a short-sleeved yellow t-shirt, with blue shorts and white-and-red trainers. "Oh… so this one is Tory? The… the son of Dr. Froid… that was kidnapped by the WWW?"

"Yeah… and this is what Lan, Megaman and the others have to say about him…" Aquaman continued. "The last time they saw him was nearby the school, and he was heading to his father's office like he always does after school… maybe this can be a lead, right?"

"Y-yes… yes, that… that will be useful!" Shuko stammered, feeling somewhat more determined now. This was going to be a difficult thing to do, but at least she had an idea of where to look next… so, she stood up and began running towards the exit, before looking around and following the road that went back to the center of ACDC Town. "Maybe Tory… is being kept somewhere along the way, then?"

"I wouldn't discard this possibility!" Aquaman said happily. As the two of them climbed the stairs down the WaterWorks building and reached the main road once again, they began looking around to see whether they could find anything strange. They knew they were literally racing against the clock… every moment they waited, their friends in the WaterWorks net were risking their lives to restore the water to ACDC Town… and the citizens weren't going to be able to handle the lack of water for much longer. "Shuko, let's look around in the cars! Maybe we will find something there!"

"O… Okay!" Shuko answered, getting closet o a blue car and sneaking a peek inside. However, she saw nothing in there, and kept going, examining the cars that were parked on the side of the road, in order to see if anything was out of place, or if any strange sound came from them. "Nothing here, Aquaman… we need to keep searching."

The small Aqua-Type Net-Navi nodded… and the two soon heard a faint noise coming from a nearby car they hadn't examined yet, sounding like someone was beating on the trunk from the inside. Immediately, the blue-haired girl and her Net-Navi turned to the car and reached it, quickly realizing that the noise was because there actually was someone in there, struggling to get out and failing to do so! For all Shuko knew, it could have been Tory there… and in any case, it was only right to help someone who was in that situation!

"Over there, Shuko!" Aquaman said, but his operator was already tugging at the lock on the trunk, trying everything she could in order to open it. However, it was clear that it was locked… and the blue-haired girl decided that more direct methods were needed. "Shuko, jack me into that car's system, I'll try and disable the locks on the car's doors!"

"O-okay! Good luck, Aquaman!" Shuko said, polling out her PET's jack-in cord and plugging it into a port on the main door. "Jack-in, Aquaman! Execute!"

Aquaman disappeared from the PET screen and reappeared inside the car's informatic system, getting to work on the defense program that kept the car locked. There didn't seem to be any viruses around, only a large structure that resembled some sort of generator. The small Net-Navi took a good look at it, before nodding and polling out a gardening hose from seemingly nowhere at all! Nodding, Aquaman opened the tap and unleashed a powerful blast of water upon the generator, swamping it and causing it to short-circuit in a dazzling display of electric sparkles! The machine crackled and beeper for a while as Aquaman continued his assault on it… and finally, there was a disquieting ripping noise coming from it, and a cloud of black smoke rose in the air from its main body as it powered down. "Okay, Shuko, I think I did it! I disabled the locks, now you should be able to open the trunk!"

"Thank you, Aquaman! But first, you need to log out!" Shuko answered, recalling her Net-Navi in her PET. As soon as Aquaman reappeared in her PET and winked at her, Shuko went over to the trunk and opened it easily, seeing that, in fact, there was someone inside… a young boy her same age, looking exactly like the picture Megaman had sent to her PET, who took a breath of relief as he felt fresh air rushing in, and raised a pair of uncertain brown eyes at Shuko. "Y-you… you are… Tory Froid, right? My… my friends sent me to rescue you…"

"Thank you… I was afraid I'd stay there for the whole day…" Tory murmured, his eyes getting reacquainted with the light after spending such a long time in the darkness. He tried to step out of the trunk, with Shuko helping him… but he was still dazzled and cramped by his long stay in that uncomfortable place, and he ended up stumbling and falling over Shuko, with the result that both of them ended on the floor, staring in each other's eyes in absolute embarrassment!

"Uh… S-sorry… I… er…" Shuko murmured, her face getting flushed as she had never been that close to a boy she didn't know before. Tory seemed to be just as surprised and embarrassed, and stood there for a few moments, staring in the blue-haired girl's eyes… before standing up in haste and rubbing the back of his head.

"I… I'm sorry, I… I thought I was good to go, but then I stumbled, and… by the way, yes, I am Tory Froid… what's your name?" he asked, extending a hand to Shuko and helping her up.

Shuko smiled gently as she took his hand and climbed to her feet, dusting her cloche as she did so. "M-my name is… Shuko… Shuko Kido… and I'm a… new student at your school." She answered. "L-Lan, M-Megaman and the others are… looking for you… N-now they are at WaterWorks… trying to interfere in the plans of WWW… t-the WWW members are the ones who kidnapped you, right?"

"Yes they did, all to force my father to help them with their mission, even I have no idea what they had in mind the moment they kidnapped me" answered Tory with a darkened expression on his face, mentally cursing the two WWW members that trapped him in that car's trunk while manipulating his father with who knows what they're planning there, it wasn't for long until something clicked in the back of his mind "Wait a minute... You know Lan and the others?!"

With a silent nod, she confirmed without a verbal reply though the brown-haired young boy did look kinda cute in her opinion. "Yes, Aquaman and I... we befriended with them ever since we started attending school in ACDC Town" she replied in her usual soft-spoken tone. "We better head back to the Waterworks as soon as possible, to let your father know you're alright now."

Nodding his head, Tory had to agree especially since his Net-Navi Iceman may stop what he is doing when he and his father hear him out. "Alright, I have a program with me that my dad uses at Work" he commented, revealing a "Handle" program he had hidden in his light yellow jacket that the WWW members that kidnapped him were unaware of. "It might help us..."

"How wonderful!" said Shuko, slowly beaming up and realizing that they might be able to stop the problem for good now, they just needed to rejoin with Lan and the others soon before the two WWW members catch on to what was happening, just in case... Shuko sent the others a message, praying they would get it on time. "Let's go!"

"Okay!"

* * *

><p>Back at the Waterworks, Lan and the others were still on guard in case of anymore viruses in the system but before anyone would make their next move... their PETs rang as they recieved the message from Shuko concerning Tory's safety. "Huh?" asked Mayl, being the first one to notice and imediately opened the email from their new friend. "I got a message from Shuko, she says that Tory's fine and that they'll be joining with us as soon as possible!"<p>

"I got the message too!" added Yai, both surprised and relieved to have gotten it as were Lan, Dex and Sal... however, they still have to stop Froid right now so being reunited with his kidnapped son could help make things easier for them. "We better a move on and get access to that room so we'll let Froid know about the good news."

"Yes, however it won't be easy... From what I can tell, Dr. Froid locked himself into the room so to keep anyone outside from stopping him" respodned Sal, frowning as even if they are able to get into the room that Froid's inside... convincing him to stop what he was doing would be more difficult than fighting the viruses in the system. "I'm afraid there is only one way we can do so..."

"You don't mean..." said Lan, stopping himself from finishing his sentence as he was certain he was seeing what Sal's talking about then turned to his own PET with a frown. "I don't want to fight Froid, but I guess we have to... Unfortunately we have to fix that pump program."

"I suggest we split up into two groups, one will go and unfreeze the pump water supply program while the other will try to convince Dr. Froid to undo what he's doing" suggested Sal, not liking the idea herself but it seems it would be their only chance to quickly resolve the matter without any civillians to suffer from WWW's plan.

"Alright... I think we understand..." began the brown-haired young man then looked back at his PET in order to inform Megaman of what has to be done, even if the neither approve of the idea of battling against Froid himself but they don't have any other options to convince him. "You ready to do this Megaman?"

"We both are!" Lan saw that Mayl's pink Net-Navi Roll was hugging Megaman much to their surprise, which signified that Lan and Mayl will be the group to confront Froid while Dex and Yai will try to unfreeze the water pump system despite Gutsman's anger and jealous at this moment, which Glyde was trying to calm him down since getting angry won't solve anything.

"Well looks like it's you and me, Lan" smiled Mayl, causing her childhood friend to flush a bit at the comment but needed to stay focused on what they have to do in order to bring this to an end fast. "Let's go fine that Pump Program!"

Unfortunately, the group didn't have time to make another step as a hail of ice cubes came their way. "Damn, not now..." muttered Lan, quickly getting a Battle Chip into his PET to better take out the cubes. "Shotgun, Battle Chip In! Download!"

"Spreader Battle Chip In, Download!" added Mayl, slotting in a Spreader Battle Chip and the two Net-Navis fired a barrage of shots that destroyed most of the ice cubes while Woodman quickly got his Leaf Shield activated and Gutsman punched through a few with the effect of his Super Arm weapon with Glyde using his main cannon to shoot a few down himself. "What was that?!"

"I think I have a pretty good idea..." suspected Sal, it wasn't for long until the ColdBear2 and ColdBear3 guarding the frozen pump water suply program appeared before them after the smoke from the attacks colloiding with the ice cubes cleared. "Just as I thought, a ColdBear2 virus and a ColdBear3."

"ColdBear2 and ColdBear3?!" exclaimed Dex, not liking the fact that they encountered a variation of the ColdBear that was more powerful than the original let alone two at the exact same time, hopefully they won't be too difficult to delete. "You mean..."

"Yes, they are stronger variations of the regular ColdBear, with ColdBear3 being the strongest variate" answered Sal with a serious expression, knowing it would be a tough battle. "I figured the WWW members would have two powerful viruses to keep the frozen pump water suply program guarded just in case anyone tried to stop the problem, whether it be official or otherwise."

"Just what we didn't need... in that case" Yai turned her attention towards Lan and Mayl since their group needed to get to the Pump Program that the WWW members made Froid tamper with while she herself and Dex can do their best to fend off the ColdBear2 and ColdBear3. "Lan, Mayl... you guys need to get going and stop Froid!"

"She's right... besides, it's nothing that Gutsman and I can't handle!" Dex was the next to speak in case Lan had any ideas of protesting against this and glanced at the PET controlling his signature Net-Navi. "Right Gutsman?"

"Guts! Guts! GUTS! Gutsman ready to bust these Viruses!"

Yai shook her head with a sigh, something Glyde had to agree with his operator on since while Dex is a great Net-Op on his own... even he needs to admit that there are situations that he can't handle on his own. "Keep telling yourselves that..." she commented with a frown on her face, now wasn't the time to argue with him anyway. "Oh well. Let's do this. Are you ready, Glyde?"

"Ready and willing, Ms. Yai." The butler Net-Navi answered.

"Okay then… let's start off with a KnightSword chip!" Yai exclaimed. Glyde's right arm quickly turned into a huge glowing sword of Energy, and he slashed at the ColdBear2, inflicting some serious damage but not quite managing to delete it. The bearlike virus fought back by creating a large block of ice and tossing it at his opponent. And now… Area Steal Battle Chip in, Download!"

Glyde managed to avoid the powerful attack by simply disappearing and reappearing a split second later out of harm's way. Gutsman and Woodman, in the meanwhile, were taking on the ColdBear3, and the large Wood-type Net-Navi was trying to interfere with its attacks by creating a series of Wood Towers that sprouted out of the ground and stopped the ice cubes rushing at them.

"Well done, Woodman! Keep it up!" Sal exclaimed. "Now… Thunder2 Battle Chip in, Download!"

Woodman knelt down and touched the ground with his huge hand, releasing an orb-shaped burst of electricity that travelled through the ground and struck the ColdBear3 just as it was about to hit Gutsman with another ice cube. The Aqua-type virus was delivered an harsh hit by the Elec-type chip and staggered, roaring in rage, and both Dex and Gutsman decided it was the right moment to finis hit and move to the next target.

"Nice job, Sal! I could have done it myself, but thanks anyway!" Dex said with a cocky grin. "And now… do it, Gutsman! Hammer Battle Chip in, download!"

"GUTS!" A huge hammer appeared in Gutsman's hands, and the large Net-Navi swung it in a powerful arc, striking the stunned ColdBear3 head on! The bear-like virus shattered, turning into harmless shards of data, but Gutsman and Woodman found themselves targetted and attacked by a bombardment of ice cubes from the ColdBear2, who was still active! The wooden Navi was struck in the chest by a flying ice cube and staggered backwards for a short while, before straightening himself, and Glyde flew right to the side of his friends to help them out.

"This one might be a little harder to dispose of, gentlemen." Glyde said, as the ColdBear2 resumed raining ice cubes all around them. "Please allow me to take care of this."

"M-Cannon Battle Chip in, download!" Yai exclaimed, sllotting in another battle chip from her folder. Glyde's left arm turned into a red cannon, and he fired a blast of energy at the ColdBear2, deleting it on the spot. "Hah! That's that, everyone! These viruses aren't going to do any more damage!"

"Heh. Good job, Yai, that was pretty awesome!" Dex commented. Now we need to look for Megaman and Roll though… I hope they didn't get in trouble!"

"I wouldn't worry too much." Woodman commented. "Megaman, Roll and their operators have shown to be quite resourceful. After all, if Megaman managed to defeat me, that means he's quite the extraordinary Net-Navi!"

"And as soon as Shuko is back with Tory, Dr. Froid won't have a reason for keeping the WaterWorks net frozen." Glyde continued.

"Yes, unless we have to deal with a member of the WWW beforehand" added Sal as being a Net-Agent, one needs to be ready for the unexpected and when it will occur in order to be better prepared to face it, even as a young girl before enlisting into the officials. "In any case, we'll need to be ready for anything."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Lan and Mayl had managed to reach the stairs and climb them up to the upper floor, where they had found the electronically-locked room Dr. Froid had sheltered himself in. As soon as they got in front of the door, Lan had begun beating on the door to get the WaterWorks operative's attention, but just as he expected, no respond had come from the locked room.<p>

"I'm afraid Dr. Froid won't let us in that easily." Megaman answered. "We need to disable the electronic lock if we are to talk to Froid. We need to convince him to take away the contaminating program and restore the water to ACDC Town."

"Alright, but shutting down the lock won't be easy either..." added Roll, if anything the lock in question would be encrypted and will require the right codes to be able to shut it down but it was then that she had a bright smile on her face. "If we could jack into the nearest area from here, we might be back to ask any which directions we'll need to take."

"Good idea, I think I might have a way we can disable it" suggested Mayl, both she and Lan heard typing from the inside which was a sign that it had to be Froid using a PC and possibly using Tory's Net-Navi Iceman to assist him. "Remember when Mr. Higsby locked all of us inside the school and the WWW tried to brainwash us with a Reeducation Program?"

"I wish I could forget that..." muttered Lan, hoping it wouldn't be something she would bring up at a time like this then realized where she was getting at. "If you think Roll would be able to disable the electronic lock to the room that Froid's inside, it's worth a shot... luckily I know where we can Jack-Into."

"Okay..." added the red-haired young girl with a nod, since there was a Water Cooler with a Jack-In Port on it right near where they were standing so it is their best bet in getting into that room but they needed to hurry and jack both Megaman and Roll into the network before things get from bad to worse for everyone in ACDC Town or even to all of DenTech City.

* * *

><p>Once both Navis were jacked into the network, they saw that there was ice right in front of them as expected, which would make things more difficult to get to the system that Iceman was currently in but they had to at least try. "Just what we didn't need..." began Megaman with a serious expression on his face and had the Mega Buster armed for the worse case scenario.<p>

"We'll be able to make it..." commented Roll, she too knew that there may be other viruses in the area aside from the ones they already encountered since it wasn't uncommon to see Aqua based Viruses in the Water Works' system but the ColdBear2, ColdBear3 and ColdHead viruses were an entirely different story. "Besides, we know what Aqua Viruses are weak against so we should be find from here on."

"I know... that" responded Megaman, while Roll was right about this... like Lan, he was not happy about the fact that they may need to battle against both Froid and Iceman, hopefully the two could beat their friend without needing to delete him. "Still, something tells me that Iceman nor Froid would be willing to listen to reason so easily."

"Yeah, but let's worry about that when we get there Mega" Roll quickly replied to the Blue Bomber as if trying to help him not think too much on the upcoming back they'll have as they made their way down the path that should lead them to the system where the electronically locked door would be so she can do her part in disabling it, trying to be careful not to slip and slide down the ice along the way. "If anything I'll help if you need it."

"Are you sure?" asked the male Net-Navi, while Roll was a pretty good battler against opponents... he wasn't so sure he would like seeing her risk her own safety even for his sake, since facing Numberman and Stoneman were more difficult than simple Virus Busting.

Roll gave Megaman a stern look on her face, sure he was becoming protective of her but it didn't mean she'd allow him to do all the fighting. "Look Mega, I know that you don't want to see anything bad happen to me but we've been through worse situations than this" she answered while having her armed crossed. "Plus Mayl and I have a bit of a trick that we've been practicing for a long time."

"Oh?" he asked again, somewhat surprised that Mayl and Roll were actually practicing something without any of the others being aware of it but then again, it couldn't be helped since he and Lan were aware of the fact that Mayl hasn't seen her parents much so she needed to do something to pass her time after finishing all her homework from school, which is what Lan needs to do.

"Sorry, but you'll have to wait until the time comes" said Roll, giving a light smile on her face since it would ruin the surprise if she or Mayl told them right away which made the two boys even more curious on what Mayl and Roll were planning to use. "Besides, a girl has to keep her secrets."

"She's right" added Mayl, deciding to speak up and get Lan and Megaman focused back on their mission, while it is true that Mayl has not battled against other Net-Navis much... she is actually anything but weak despite from most people believe about her. "Just like there are some things that Sal doesn't want to reveal herself, since she's a Net-Agent but our surprise should benefit us once it's needed."

"If you think that would help" said Lan while frowning a bit, though he feels that something wasn't right as they had yet to encounter any actual WWW members in the Water Works, least of the enemy Net-Navi they might have but if Stoneman's power was anything then whoever was blackmailing Froid to mess with the systems might be after something and needed to keep everyone else preoccupied until then. "Okay, let's not waste any more time… we need to reach Froid and talk to him as soon as possible!"

"Right. Let's hurry, the electronic lock program should be up ahead." Megaman answered, pointing to a long road that went inside the deeper part of the net. "I'm pretty sure we will be able to disable it and reach Froid… but let's take care of anything that might happen!"

The two Net-Navis began following the road towards the deeper part of the WaterWorks network… and it wasn't long before they both heard sounds of battle coming from ahead! A loud clang of swords clashing against one another reached them… and Megaman immediately thought it was Protoman's doing, asking himself what he was fighting against!

"Can you hear this, Mega? There is a battle up ahead!" Roll exclaimed. "I think we might want to hurry and see what is going on up there!"

"Took the words right outta my mouth, Roll!" Megaman answered, speeding towards the place the sounds of battle were coming from. In a moment, the two Net-Navis reached a large platform in the center of that section of the Net, upon which a Net-Navi in a red battle suit, which Megaman and Roll immediately recognized as Protoman, was engaged in an intense sword fight with a cute and odd-looking little Net-Navi about half his height, looking like a small Eskimo wearing a green fur coat and pants with a matching hood and brown snow boots, with a pair of cute red swirls on his cheeks. His Navi symbol, which he wore on his chest, was a stylized white snowflake on a black background, and he was holding an AquaSword with both hands, trying without much success to stand up to Protoman's incredible swordsmanship.

"Ugh… I must keep fighting!" the smaller Net-Navi said, gritting his teeth in anger and determination. "Dr. Froid and Tory are depending on me… Hyaaaaa!"

Raising his AquaSword with all the strength his small body was able to muster, the small Eskimo Net-Navi charged at the stoic Protoman and slashed at him, hoping to catch him off guard… but Protoman was too good a fighter not to anticipate that unskilled attack, and easily blocked the watery blade with his own sword, before sending the smaller Navi to the ground with a simple movement of his arm.

"Iceman, no!" the voice of Dr. Froid exclaimed as his Net-Navi tumbled to the ground, his AquaSword disappearing as it flew from his grasp and clattered harmlessly to the ground. Iceman gritted his teeth and tried to stand up again, but Protoman was upon him and placed his beam sword closet o his throat, preparing to deliver the finishing blow!

"Oh no… he's going to finish that smaller Navi off!" Roll exclaimed in horror. Impulsively, Megaman ran to try and stop Protoman, and Lan shook himself out of his shock just in time to react and insert two Battle Chips in rapid succession in his PET.

"Stop him, Megaman! Quick!" Lan exclaimed. "Area Steal and WideSword Battle Chips in! Download!"

Immediately, Megaman executed a short-range teleport just as Protoman was raising his sword, and reappeared right in front of the red-armored Net-Navi, who had already begun to swing his sword down and try to decapitate Iceman. But the other Battle Chip Lan had used activated just in time, and Megaman's left arm morphed into a matching laser sword which he used to block Protoman's swing! The two mighty blades collided with a deafening sound of electric cables going in short-circuit, and both Dr. Froid and Iceman widened their eyes in disbelief when they saw Megaman in front of the smaller Aqua-type Navi, trying to defend him!

Protoman, for his part, was rather surprised as well, as he jumped away after a few moments spent crossing swords with Megaman. "You again." He said in a somewhat annoyed tone, as he had expected Megaman and his group of friends to have logged out as soon as he told them to. "You're late anyway. It's all over."

"I thought I told you not to interfere." Chaud went on, his stern face appearing on a comm window near Protoman as he addressed Lan and Mayl. "Why haven't you logged out of this place?"

"We're trying to stop you from deleting our friend's Navi!" snapped Lan, more so as Megaman with all his might managed to force Protoman to back off a bit and Iceman managed to get back onto his feet though something tells Lan and Mayl that Froid won't stop what he's doing unless he is sure his son's safe.

"While I appreciate that you managed to save Iceman, you need to leave now!" began Froid, his expression slowly started to darken as he gripped onto his son's PET. "I have to protect my son."

Needless to say, Iceman gave a small frown and had to agree with Froid. "He's right, this concern you guys at all" he added, not liking the idea of fighting Megaman or Roll but if it's to make sure nothing bad happens to Tory then he will use lethal force. "We still have work to do!"

"Oh yeah?" asked Protoman, unlike Megaman or Roll, he wouldn't hesitate in eliminating a threat to the entire net with extreme prejuidice and Chaud has similar thoughts when it came to all enemy Net-Navis, such as those willing to follow the WWW and their path of conquest. "Well how about a taste of..."

"Wait!" Megaman interrupted, not allowing the red armored Net-Navi to finish his sentence as he had a thing to say himself still armed with the WideSword that Lan had equipped onto him. "These two aren't the real enemy!"

"Mega's right, besides the WWW is manipulating them by..." Roll tried to speak up only for Chaud's voice to prevent her from continuing what she was going to say, more so as the white-haired official knew what's happening at the Water Works even if it wasn't all the details that Lan and Mayl knew.

"How can you say that..." he asked them, giving another scowl as he isn't one to stand by and allow civillians to tell him what he should or shouldn't do as he still had his duty to protect the Net from all threats. "After so many people that suffered because of him!"

It wasn't for long before Chaud and Protoman suddenly recieved a message on the former's dark-red PET, which the latter began frowning as he realized who it was from."Lord Chaud, you have mail from HQ" he reported to his operator and frowned as he read through the message, causing his free hand to clench.

"Damn... Protoman, it looks like we've been had! These two are nothing more than a decoy, there are two WWW A-ranked operators somewhere!" he muttered a curse after turning his attention towards Protoman, but that wasn't the only thing that made both of them angry right now."WWW is after the Aqua Program here!"

"Aqua Program?" asked Lan, having heard a bit about it but never realized that the WWW's plans weren't just petty Net-Crimes after all, ever since the Oven Incidents, the Brainwashing Program at school and the Metroline events, he and his friends were wondering if those events were connected somehow but now it was starting to make sense. "Isn't that one of the Super Programs?"

"Come to think of it... Yes it is, there are four of them at least what I remember" added Mayl with a small frown on her face though Chaud had no time to waste and is preparing to log Protoman out.

"The WWW Navis must be here somewhere..." said the white-haired boy, about ready to search for the true culprits as soon as possible and his Navi shared those thoughts, letting the three other Net-Navis go for now but will delete them should they ever interfere again. "Let's find them!"

_Protoman, Logging Out!_

"W-wait!" Iceman exclaimed, trying to follow Protoman, but the swordsman Net-Navi had disappeared before the smaller Navi had a chance to get his attention again. He slowly stood up and faced Megaman and Roll, and much to their surprise, he slid into a fighting stance, ready to battle again.

"Hey, hold on a second, Iceman!" Megaman exclaimed, wanting to solve this peacefully. "We know what's going on here! The WWW kidnapped your operator's son and is threatening to harm him if you don't do what they say, right?"

Iceman's eyes widened in shock as he didn't expect Megaman to know about that already. "What? How do you know this? Are you a WWW agent too?" he asked suspiciously.

Dr. Froid's face appeared on a comm window beside Iceman. "If you are going to threaten my son or stop me from protecting him, Iceman and I will not let you do it!" he exclaimed. "Iceman, do you feel like you can fight some more?"

"I told you, Dr. Froid. I will protect Tory with my very life!" Iceman said in determination, getting ready to attack. However, the two Net-Navis in front of him made no attempt to fight, and Roll put up her hands in a gesture of peace.

"Wait! Wait, hear us out, please!" the female Navi answered. "A friend of ours has just retrieved Tory, and she's now on her way here along with him! You don't have to work for the WWW any more... you can thaw out the WaterWorks net and deactivate the pollutant!"

"It's true! We can attest to that!" Mayl answered.

However, this didn't make the man and his Net-Navi any less suspicious, as for all they knew, it could be part of an elaborate trap. "Hah! You're just saying that! How do we know we can trust you?" Iceman answered. "Maybe you're just making things up to make us drop our guard!"

Megaman was about to say something himself, but right after Iceman had spoken, another window opened up near him, and Tory's face appeared on it, looking very relieved and happy to see his father! "Dad, it's true! I am safe now! The WWW was keeping me in the trunk of a car, but one of Lan's friends managed to rescue me! Now the WWW can't blackmail you anymore!" he exclaimed, causing both Iceman and Dr. Froid to widen their eyes in shock.

"T-Tory?" Dr. Froid murmured. "But... But how...?"

As Megaman, Roll and their operators stepped aside to let Tory do the talking, Aquaman appeared inside the Net as well, and Shuko's window popped up beside Tory's. "A-actually... um... I was... lucky enough to f-find... the car... Tory was in..." she stammered, still feeling emotional about the whole deal. "Aquaman and I... well... we managed to... open it up, and... we saved your son..."

"So it's all okay now!" Aquaman exclaimed happily, his arms up in the air. "We have beaten the WWW and WaterWorks can go back to normal! Great job, Shuko!"

"Yeah, you really did great out there, Shuko!" Lan praised the blue-haired girl, who simply smiled shyly and rubbed the back of her head.

"I... I guess my luck is not all bad after all..." she murmured.

Dr. Froid breathed a sigh of relief, all signs of tension now fading from his face. "Thank heavens you're safe, Tory... I was afraid they'd kill you if I didn't comply..." he said, managing to smile from happiness. "I... I don't know how I can thank you enough, kids... especially you, young lady. You and your Aquaman have saved my son... and possibly the whole city!"

Iceman was relieved as well. "Yeah... and my apologies for trying to attack you guys." he said to Megaman and Roll. "I was really on edge, and I didn't know if you were friends of enemies... The only thing I was thinking of was saving Tory."

"Hey, it's no problem! I can understand, I'd be frantic if my friends were in danger, too!" Lan answered. "Well, I guess this is it, then. All we have to do is return the WaterWorks net to normal and call it a day."

"I'm not sure if we can really say that..." Dr. Froid answered. "Remember, the WWW agents are still around, and..."

Suddenly, Iceman widened his eyes in horror and called out to the rest of the Net-Navis as he saw something approaching quickly! "Huh? Watch out, everyone!" he called out, before a hissing sound was heard, and the surprised Megaman, Roll and Aquaman quickly turned around to see a volley of iron-hard, razor-sharp spikes flying at them like a swarm of angry hornets! Acting with split-second reflexes, Megaman and his friends quickly jumped out of the way, but one of the spikes scratched Megaman on the arm, causing him to drop on his knee and clutch the injured site with a wince!

"Megaman!" Lan exclaimed.

"Megaman! Are you okay?" Roll exclaimed. Luckily, the Net-Navi quickly stood up and nodded, having only taken little damage from the sneak attack, and Roll smiled slightly before turning to the mysterious enemy that had attacked them. "Hey! Who are you? And where are you hiding? Show yourself!"

"Heheheee... I'm impressed that you managed to avoid my ambush!" the attacker said in a strange and rough voice as he stepped out of the shadows. It was a tall and lean Net-Navi, wearing a black bodysuit under a bulky dark blue armor that completely covered his chest and arms, and a pair of azure and blue boots. Several white spikes were jutting out of his back, chest and shoulders, and even his head was a larger white spike, sporting a black, angular face and a pair of sharp yellow eyes, as well as a disturbing grin. "So you are the ones who have given us WWW this much trouble recently, huh? Even if you don't look like much, I have to admit that to have gotten this far, you sure don't lack skill."

"So you're one of the WWW cronies who are responsible for this, right?" Megaman said, pointing his Buster at the unknown attacker. "Why have you done this? And what do you want with the AquaProgram?"

The WWW Net-Navi chuckled cruelly. "Hehehee... why should I tell you what we need the Aqua Program for?" he answered. "Especially since now I know you're more dangerous than we expected. I, , will make sure you don't interfere any more! Prepare yourselves!"

With that, Needleman dashed in and fired several spikes at Megaman and Roll in a wide range, forcing the two Net-Navis to dive sideways in order to avoid getting impaled. Roll landed first and turned around, firing a pink heart-shaped projectile at the WWW enforcer, who quickly moved out of the way. "Heh! You'll have to do better than that to defeat me!"

Lan and Mayl frowned, recognizing the Net-Navi as te one who was with the other WWW known as Bombman when they retrieved Stoneman's remains and the Regeno Sphere before they could properly delete it back at the Metroline's network. "This guy is gonna be tough to beat, we're gonna need a combination…" commented the brown-haired young man, glancing at Mayl since if he was as powerful as he said he was before, then they'll have to be careful. "Alright Megaman… Battle Routine, set!"

"Execute!" Megaman was more than ready to deal with this guy, more so as he'll make the WWW Navi pay for kidnapping Tory as well as for manipulating Froid and Iceman while Needleman began grinning as this might actually prove to be more interesting than he initially thought but is going to enjoy deleting two pests for the price of one.

"You may have gotten lucky to have dodged my Needle Cannon the first time but wait till things go when I fight serious!" laughed the WWW Net-Navi, moments before ejecting needles from his chest at his two opponents. "Care for some needles?"

"Mini-Bomb Battle Chips in, Download!" Lan immediately slotted in several Mini Bombs Battle Chips into his PET and the Blue Bomber threw them in order to counter the needles that were sent at him and Roll though it will take more than just Mini-Bombs to win this fight. "ElecSword Battle Chip in!"

"Take this!" yelled Megaman, his hand turning into the ElecSword and went head to head in melee-combat against the powerful Needleman, the WWW Navi having one of his hands turned into a giant needle in order to respond to the slashes from Megaman's ElecSword with both trying to overpower the other.

"Not bad, not bad at all Megaman… I am starting to see why Fireman, Numberman and Stoneman each had difficulty against a civilian Net-Navi such as yourself but don't take me lightly…" said Needleman, both opponent separated then the former proceeded with a devastating Needle Cannon barrage but a Roll Blast collided with the Needles before they could reach Megaman. "What the?!"

"You forget someone?" frowned Roll, landing on the ground with grace and style as if she was performing gymnastic then nodded to her red-haired female operator as they needed to make their next move a big one. "Alright, you ready Mayl?"

"Yeah, let's hope this works…" began Mayl, especially as she was hoping that their training could help them take on their powerful opponent and they also need to make sure they can get a clear shot without risking Megaman's or Iceman's safety if their in the wrong position. "For now, let's go with a a Roll Blast!"

"Good idea!" added Roll, knowing it would be best to wait for the right moment before they reveal their hidden surprise and sent countless hearts at Needleman, which the opposing Net-Navi responded with the Needle Cannon to counter the ones he couldn't avoid. "It's your turn Mega!"

"On it!" Megaman nodded his head and got ready to use his ElecSword as both knew that if it was to hit Needleman, it would temporarily paralyze him…. Then with one slash, he managed to score a direct hit on the opponent's right shoulder which resulted in the WWW Navi being electrified by the secondary effect. "Alright we got him!"

"Spreader Battle Chip in, Download!" Mayl slotted in a Spreader Battle Chip and Roll took aim at Needleman, wanting to make sure he would be hit by the attack before the paralysis wears off then fired beams of blue light which struck Needleman where he was kneeling down.

"They actually did it…" said Iceman in awe, even Froid couldn't believe what he was seeing though he has a feeling that things are about to get much more difficult as soon the smoke cleared as Needleman was injured but not to the point where he would have to log out. "No way!"

"Heh…. That was a pretty good effort of teamwork, but my Needle Attack isn't just for offense but also acts as a good defense for certain attacks!" Needleman commented to himself as he was ultimately free from the paralysis that was inflicted onto him from Megaman's ElecSword. "Now it's time my most lethal move, and this time it will be something even you can't survive!"

Without another word, Needleman jumped into the air and fired needles in every direction and both Megaman and Roll were caught off-guard as they tried to avoid most of them while a few lucky shots hit the ground, damaging both Net-Navis by the explosion. "Oh no, Megaman!" yelled Lan in shock at what he and Mayl were witnessing. "Just what the hell was that?!"

"That was my Wild Needle Cannon and as you just saw, it targets multiple directions unlike my regular Needle Cannon" answered the opposing WWW Navi, giving another sadistic grin which lasted only a few seconds until Megaman and Roll managed to get back up.

"You okay?" asked the Blue Bomber, a bit banged up right now but he could still fight though he would rather not take another powerful attack like that, unlike when he took on Woodman, the Net-Navi in front of him and Roll wasn't going to hesitate in deleting them. While giving a silent nod to show she was okay, a Recovery 50 Battle Chip from Mayl's PET was used to heal the pink Navi before proceeding with healing Megaman. "Thanks."

"Any time…. You know Mega, I think there might be a way we could win" suggested Roll with a light smile on her face, even despite their previously used combined effort it wasn't a big enough finale to end the fight but there is a way around that problem. "However, you have to trust me and Mayl since it is a risky move."

This made Megaman and even Lan somewhat confused by the fact that they were needed to trust Roll and Mayl on this idea. "What do you mean?" the former questioned her, hoping that it wouldn't result in self-sacrifice or something similar to that since he would never forgive himself should anything bad happen to her.

"Remember when I mentioned that there would be a surprise that Mayl and I were practicing not too long ago?" she asked Megaman, making him reflect on that conversation they had before they got to Iceman and Protoman then began frowning.

"Yeah, you did tell us that more or less" answered Megaman with a nod of his head, then came the next thing he had on his mind which would make him more concerned. "What does that have to do with our fight against Needleman?"

"I'm saying that the surprise is going to require a team effort from the both of us" responded Roll, even though Megaman doesn't like the idea himself…. They weren't being given much of a choice as Needleman will be attacking again and they have to do something soon. "We only got one shot at it too and especially as Iceman has to not be in the line of fire when we use it."

"Okay…." Megaman replied back, then turned his attention towards Lan and Mayl, both humans would have to think before they consider going through with the plan that Roll was suggesting and right away. "What do you think Lan? Should we go through with it?"

Remaining silent, Lan was frowning as well as they couldn't waste any time and then turned his attention towards Mayl. "So Mayl, if this surprise is going to save our Navis then it would be best to tell us what you two were planning" he spoke to the red-haired girl he was childhood friend with then a light smile formed on her face.

"You could say that I've been learning a thing or two about hidden surprises from you and Megaman if you know what I mean…."

"Actually, I really am not following…." He stopped himself from finishing his sentence and had a feeling there was something off about what Mayl said just now, then it took him a while to process the whole thing and his eyes widened. "Wait, you're not thinking of using…."

"Yeah, Roll and I are going to go for broke." Mayl answered, taking three Battle Chips out of her folder and narrowing her eyes, as she knew she was going to try a very dangerous thing, and yet it was the best chance they had to defeat Needleman. "I just need a distraction… do you think you can keep Needleman occupied for a while?"

"We just need a few seconds…" Roll exclaimed, skillfully dodging a barrage of spikes that Needleman was shooting towards her. The female Net-Navi back-flipped out of harm's way… and Aquaman intervened, holfing his sprayer and shooting a blast of high-pressure water towards Needleman, hitting him and forcing him back a little!

"Agh! You little…" an irritated Needleman exclaimed. "We never thought a little midget like you would cause so many headaches! You and your operator have ruined our strategy, by getting Froid's little brat free… know that from now on, you are on the WWW's black list!"

"We… we will not give in!" Shuko stammered fearfully, but still trying to put up a brave front. "You… you have threatened Mr. Froid's son, and we will not… let you do as you please!"

Aquaman grinned proudly. "Nicely done, Shuko! That's the spirit!" he answered.

Needleman snorted and was about to attack Aquaman… when a powerful blast of ice struck him on the side, causing his right arm to go numb with cold for a moment! He retreated a couple steps with a yell of surprise, and turned in that direction to see Iceman taking a battle stance upon having used his Ice Slasher attack to get Needleman's attention!

"You can count me in! I've been wanting to freeze this guy solid for a while now!" Iceman exclaimed. "And now that we don't need to fear you harming Tory anymore, that means I can go all out on you!"

"Hah! Tough words for a puny Net-Navi! Let's see you back them up!" the spike-covered Net-Navi sneered, firing a bunch of spikes towards his opponents and forcing them back. Dr. Froid frowned and placed a BubbleShot battle Chip in his PET, making Iceman fire a large bubble of water that exploded upon impact on Needleman… but the evil Net-Navi didn't seem too bothered by the hit, and chuckled in a gloating way. "Hehehee… are you trying to tickle me? That attack won't punch through my armor!"

"No, but maybe this one will!" Megaman exclaimed. Lan had just inserted a LongSword Battle Chip into his PET, and his Net-Navi had just charged towards Needleman and delivered a powerful blow with his hand turned into a thin laser blade! Needleman was hit, and this time, he actually seemed to register damage, staggering back holding his side! With an angry growl he turnedto Megaman and prepared to retaliate… but the time Megaman, Aquaman and Iceman had bought had allowed Mayl and Roll to ready their Battle Chips and insert them into Mayl's PET, one after the other!

"FireBlade… Battle Chip in! AquaBlade Battle Chip in! ElecBlade Battle Chip in! DOWNLOAD!" Mayl yelled. "Megaman, Aquaman, Iceman, we did it! Please get out of the way!"

Roll began to glow a fiery aura, and with a powerful yell, she raised her right arm in the air as it turned into a huge laser blade, crackling with electricity and shining with red and blue flames in a dazzling display! The pink Net-Navi's eyes were glowing blue, and she was gritting her teeth in a determined expression, trying to control the overwhelming flow of energy that went into her blade! Megaman, Aquaman and Iceman, momentarily stunned by that display of power, quickly dove out of the way… and Needleman, caught off guard as well, tried to do the same… but Megaman turned to him and fired a Mega Buster charged shot that struck the spiky Net-Navi in the chest, momentarily stunning him and allowing Roll a large enough window of time to use her new Program Advance!

"Program Advance!" the pink Net-Navi exclaimed. "LIFESWORD3!"

With a mighty swing, Roll dropped the enormous laser blade she was holding upon Needleman, who screamed in rage and pain as the LifeSword3 tore through his defenses and struck him head on!

"AAAAARGH! D-damn you… little girl…" Faced with no other alternative other than a swift deletion, the evil Net-Navi quickly dissolved to regroup and recover, knowing that at least the AquaProgram was in their hands, if Colorman and Maddy had done their job. "I'll retreat for now… but watch your back! WWW never forgives!"

_NEEDLEMAN LOGGING OUT_

"Is it over?" asked Roll, somewhat exhausted as this was the first time she ever attempted to use a Program Advance in an actual life or death situation but she was fortunate that Megaman managed to catch her before she hit the ground. "Did we get him?"

"Yeah, this time we managed to do so" answered Megaman, while it is a relief that they've won at least, he couldn't help but wonder how is it that aside from Lan and himself, Mayl and Roll managed to perform a powerful Program Advance… something Dex and Gutsman couldn't do, yet the one used by the two females was able to use was actually a more powerful version of the original LifeSword. "How did you…."

"It's a long story…" responded Roll, she needed some rest right now as there was still one last thing that the two Net-Navis and their operators had to do in order to get things back to normal, hopefully without anymore problems along the way.

"Alright, now Froid… your son is safe and one of the WWW has been dealt with but we still have to get the net back up and running!" reminded Lan, making quick contact with Tory's father despite all the things he had done prior to learning that his only son is safe and sound thanks to their new friend Shuko and her Net-Navi Aquaman. "The others should be getting ready to unfreeze the pump water supply program by now."

There was nothing but silence from Froid but never the less; he nodded his head as the brown-haired young man operating Megaman was right. "You…. You're right, kid" he responded and turned his attention towards Iceman, knowing what needs to be done in order to get everything in working order again. "Iceman!"

"Yes sir!" Iceman replied to Froid and used his powers to defrost the purification machine in order to properly restore the Water Works as the

"There, that should fix DenTech City's Water Works" Froid told the two children, both of which are relieved that this was one problem resolved but there may still be the other WWW Member in the area along with Needleman's Operator which could only mean that they are still after the Aqua Program in the building's network.

"Glad that is over…" said Lan, giving a deep sigh and then turned his attention back towards Mayl since he actually wasn't aware that she had a FireBlade, an AquaBlade and an ElecBlade let alone like Megaman, he never would have expected to see their friends able to pull off something that is usually just a rumor prior to the fight with Stoneman at the Metroline. "Still, how exactly did you manage to get these chips anyway?"

"My mom gave them to me when I was little, it was on the day I first received both my PET and Roll" explained Mayl, reflecting on the day of her childhood and it was a happy moment when she first met her Net-Navi, while she didn't remember much about her mother, both parents were very kind and caring despite usually having to work at their shop most of the time. "She said that I should use them wisely if the right combination was used in a life or death situation…. I never really questioned it at first but when you used the original LifeSword to defeat Stoneman, I realized what she meant by that."

"I see…" commented Lan, remembering when he fought Stoneman and unlocked the power of the LifeSword Program Advance via the combination of the Sword, WideSword and LongSword Battle Chip that he had for the first time which was beneficial to their survival. "Plus Roll mentioned that the Program Advance you used was called the LifeSword3, hard to imagine that there is actually a stronger version of the LifeSword that Megaman and I used."

"There are actually three versions, the LifeSword1 that you used against Stoneman, then there's the LifeSword2 which is a combination of the FireSword, AquaSword and ElecSword and finally the LifeSword3 that I used to help us beat Needleman" explained Mayl, needing to be sure that Lan is fully-aware of the fact that as powerful as the normal LifeSword is in difficult battles, it would be outmatched by the stronger versions should an opponent use either the LifeSword2 or LifeSword3 against them."It wasn't easy to master it, took an entire month following the School Jacking Incident and the events at the Metroline to eventually get it right."

"Thanks for the warning, now that I think of it… my dad sent the ElecSword before we took on Stoneman and just recently we got the AquaSword from one of those Swordy3 viruses" commented the brown-haired young man, realizing that the only Battle Chip for the LifeSword2 Program Advance was the FireSword though they'll worry about that later. "Huh?"

"What is it?" asked Mayl, though she too was alerted of an incoming email from the others and from the way it looks, there was actually some much needed good news. "It's from Sal and the others, they're saying that they managed to delete both ColdBear viruses and melted the ice on the pump water supply program with a fireshot that Yai sent to Glyde. They should be heading here to meet with us right now!"

"That means the water in ACDC Town should be back!" said a relieved Lan, more so as it seems that Sal's group is able to succeed in their task. "Hopefully everyone there would be glad to have fresh water to drink again cause who knows what could have happened if we attempted to unfreeze the pump water supply program before learning we needed to also fix the Waterworks filtering program first."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want people to drink polluted water if that were the case" added Mayl, dreading that thought while at the same time is grateful that the Mr Progs in the Waterwork's network warned them beforehand. "They'll be here soon so we better be ready to meet up with them."

* * *

><p>"This is trouble, Maddy! Looks like Needleman was defeated!" a strange Net-Navi looking like a brightly colored clown with yellow skin, spiky blue hair, overlarge eyes and a large ball instead of legs told his Net-Op, a young woman with peach-colored hair done in two spiky pigtails, wearing brightly colored clothes and sporting a shrewd, sneaky expression on her face as he carried the object he was looking for in his large hands: a large luminous blue ball that seemed to be made of water.<p>

The girl, Maddy, frowned in worry. "What? Are you serious, Colorman?" she asked. "Who could be strong enough to defeat Needleman? Unless that was Protoman, in which case I can believe it to be the case… but I thought we had managed to distract him long enough!"

"In any case, we need to hightail it out of here!" Colorman began to say. "We have the Aqua Program in our hands, so our job here is done, right?"

"I am afraid I cannot let you leave here with that." Protoman said catching both Operator and Net-Navi by surprise. In a swift flash of crimson, the swordsman Net-Navi dove towards Colorman in an attempt to ctch the Aqua Program an at the same time cut down the criminal Navi with a powerful slash… but just in time, Maddy managed to insert an AreaSteal Battle Chip, causing Colorman to vanish instantly and teleport a few feet away in a flash! Protoman's slash cut the air, and the scarlet swordsman landed elegantly on his feet, quickly turning to Colorman.

"You have something that does not belong to you." Protoman said, calmly yet firmly. "Hand back the Aqua Program, or I will delete you. This is my only warning."

After a moment of surprise, Maddy smiled thinly and gave a quick, conceited giggle. "Hohohohooo, aren't we getting ahead of ourselves?" she answered. "You won't have this chance, I'm afraid. We have just completed our mission, and we're not staying here any longer! So… bye bye!"

"Perhaps we'll meet again… when the EndGame has come! See you!" Colorman answered in a sing-song voice just before Maddy jacked him out, and the clown-like Net-Navi dissolved in a shower of pixels, leaving the WaterWorks net.

_COLORMAN LOGGING OUT_

"Hmph. Looks like they got away and they have another of the Elemental Programs in their hands…" Chaud murmured. "I have to say, their plan was actually well thought out. We need to step up our game if we are to stop them. For now, Protoman, we need to log out and return to HQ to report this incident."

"Lord Chaud, sir." The scarlet Net-Navi answered stoically, before disappearing himself as Chaud logged him out.

* * *

><p>The next Monday, in ACDC Elementary…<p>

* * *

><p>"Well, looks like all is well that ends well." Ms. Mari was saying to her class, who was now looking relieved and happy that the water crisis had been solved, and that everything has turned out okay. "In the end, it was discovered that the WWW was behind the incident at Waterworks… but I'm glad to say that it was solved, and to see that everyone is doing well. You included, Tory."<p>

"Well… I have to say, it was a rather scary experience…" the brown-haired boy answered, smiling in slight embarrassment and rubbing the back of his head. "But I'm glad to say it all ended up well… and I have to thank Lan, Megaman and their friends for that! If it wasn't for them… maybe I wouldn't be here today. And especially for Shuko and Aquaman, who found me in the trunk of that car."

"You did a great job, Shuko! I think you can be proud of yourself!" Lan exclaimed enthusiastically, giving the blue-haired girl a smile and a thumbs-up while Shuko sat at her desk, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson when everyone started applauding her and her new found friends.

"We all did our part. We managed to stop WWW from doing what they wanted… though I'm still a little worried about the whole deal with the Aqua Program…" Megaman said, thinking once again of the Elemental Program that had still been stolen by the WWW. "But I guess we'll leave that for another day. For now, I'm just glad we managed to save our town from the water crisis."

"And we need to thank Roll and Mayl too! They are the ones who came up with a way to defeat that Needleman guy!" Dex gushed. "Though of course, Gutsman and yours truly would have been able to take that punk down ourselves. But hey, whatever works, right?"

"Right! Guts guts!" Gutsman answered. "Little Roll did great!"

Mayl giggled and fidgeted a little in her desk. "Now, let's just say that everybody was useful… and we need to thank the Net-Agent who helped us too!" she answered. "As soon as we find her, we need to give her our thanks. She just… disappeared as soon as the Waterworks net was back to normal."

"In any case, class… I hope you realize that your pupils have done us all a great service, and they deserve our thanks and our gratitude!" Ms. Mari said, smiling gently at Lan and hs friends. "So… will the heroes of this classroom stand up and receive a round of applause?"

"You tell them, Ms. Mari!"

"You rocked, guys!"

"Three cheers for Lan and Megaman!"

"And for their friends too!"

A loud, heartfelt applause resonated through the classroom as Lan, Dex and Yai stood up first, smiling proudly… and were soon followed, even if more awkwardly, by Mayl and Tory, who seemed to be a little less comfortable with the sudden notoriety. Shuko, for her part, remained at her desk, feeling anxious about being under everybody's gaze… and Aquaman popped up on her PET's screen to cheer her up.

"Come on, Shuko, can't you see these people are all cheering us on? I think that's all the proof you need that you aren't a bad luck girl, isn't it?" Aquaman said happily, as Shuko fidgeted nervously and shakily stood up, smiling shyly. The clumsy blue-haired girl slipped and fell face-first on her desk, much to the surprise of everyone… and Tory was the first one to reach her as she stood up once again, rubbing her sore nose!

"Shuko! Are you okay?" Tory asked. Shuko smiled and nodded, revealing a comical red bruise on the tip of her nose. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah, it is…" she answered, finally taking a look around herself and seeing the whole classroom looking at her with admiration and worry. She felt like crying in happiness at seeing their friendship and concern, when only yesterday she was convinced that she would grow old without ever knowing what happiness felt like…

"I was just thinking that… perhaps, I'm not quite the unluckiest girl in the world after all!" she said, causing Tory to blink a little in surprise. Lan and Megaman looked at each other and nodded, feeling glad they had managed to save the day once again, and that they were able to help two of their friends…

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in a WWW secret base…<p>

* * *

><p>"Hmm… so, these are the little girl and the Net-Navi who defeated you and Needleman, Ms. Yuri?" Maddy asked her superior, looking at the images of Mayl Sakurai and her Net-Navi Roll that had appeared on Colorman's PET with clear surprise and disbelief. "I must say, I am surprised. They don't look like much."<p>

Yuri shrugged her shoulders. "Needleman and I were caught off guard; I have no problem admitting that." She answered. "We didn't think they would be able to fire a Program Advance as powerful as the LifeSword3. But next time, we will be better prepared."

"There will be no need for you and Needleman to waste time with these little brats, Ms. Yuri!" Colorman exclaimed happily. "Please allow me and Maddy to take care of them! We'll teach them a nice lesson not to mess with WWW!"

Needleman smirked thinly from his PET, as he was curious to see how Colorman and Maddy would be able to handle themselves against those thorns in their organization's side. "Oh, you sure sound confident, Colorman." Needleman answered with a nasty grin. "And… I believe you already have a plan for getting rid of those bothersome insects, right?"

Maddy smiled nastily. "If you would give me some leeway, Ms. Yuri… I think I already have an idea on how to deal with them." She answered. "You'll see… Colorman and I will not disappoint you!"

After thinking about it for a moment, Yuri smiled back and adjusted her sunglasses. "Fine. You have carte blanche, Maddy. Make sure those bothersome children can't interfere again."

**A/Ns: Well here it is, another chapter done and I felt that after finding out that Mayl was given bad treatment in the Megaman NT Warrior Axess anime onward… I feel that there had to be things for my story to show that it can treat her and Roll better (plus BCC and BN4 Red Sun actually gave the two a bigger role than just their canonical roles from the games themselves). In any case, I hope to do more for the story soon as I am working on it alongside another Megaman fic, you will see why later.**


End file.
